Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart
by Taranea
Summary: After receiving an ancient book for his birthday, Sonic finds himself transported to a fantastic world of magic and heroes,which is threatened by an evil Djinn. Helped by a genie named Shahra AND joined by old friends, Sonic begins the adventure of SatsR!
1. The Horrors of Presents

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, it would have had some decent cutscenes.

**Important Note: **Welcome to this story! You can read this regardless of whether you´ve played the game or not and you will be able to enjoy it. This is a Sonic and the Secret Rings _adaption_, meaning that it won´t follow the storyline exactly, although I can point out where I´m differing from the canon. It picks up slightly earlier than the game starts. The preface is a tidbit from later in the story to stir your appetite, Twilight series style. ;) Summary curtesy of Asher Tye, who also offers some excellent Sonic stories on this site - check them out!

Please read and have fun!:)

* * *

**Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart**

_by Taranea_

**Preface:**

"I offer up _your _life, blue hedgehog!"

Sonic tensed. The blade was rushing to meet his unprotected skin. He knew he had to dodge, even if the cursed fire consuming his heart would kill him either way. But Sonic never had expected someone else to react faster. Never had expected someone else to protect _him_ for a change. And he would never had expected his friend to die, even as she screamed when the sword cut into her back.

And the creature laughed. He laughed, as he transformed, laughed as the magic was changing him into an awful epitome of creation gone wrong and he was laughing still at the prostrate hedgehog before him, powerless.

There was nothing he could do. Sonic´s hands trembled, holding the lifeless body and he wished the Chaos Emeralds were there, so he could transform too, and _fight_, but they were away, as far away as the soul of this girl…

And even without looking at the now dying flame on his chest, Sonic knew he had failed.

**Chapter 1: The Horrors of Presents****  
**

A bright and shining cruel sun crept over the horizon, taking great care to especially poke one very wasted and very tired blue hedgehog straight in the formerly sleeping eye.

At least, that was how it seeemed to Sonic. He yawned and stretched, taking in the mess he had been lying in, which happened to be his apartment in Station Square. He and his friends had celebrated his birthday here last night and gotten a little bit carried away, it seemed.  
The blue hero groaned and massaged the temples of his aching head.

_Mental memo: _Never let that albino bat get close to the party punch again.

"Oh Soooonic! Time for breakfast!"

He winced as he recognized the voice of Amy Rose as it was coming way too cheerful for his taste from the kitchen. Still, the smell of coffee that came wafting with it made it suddenly a lot more agreeable and Sonic raised himself to trot over.

The only other person present beside the two seemed to be Tails who still lay snoring heavily upon the couch. The hedgehog smiled and let him sleep.

"Morning, Ames. Where´s Knux and the rest?"

Amy, still very beautiful and fresh-looking despite the long night, beamed at his appearance.

"Oh, he said he had to go get some things from the city and left early. I don´t know about Shadow. Rouge, I think she already went late last night. But of course, in your state you wouldn´t have noticed that, I guess?" she asked, casting him a mock reproving glance.

"…can I just get some coffee, please? My head hurts."

"Case in point."

Nevertheless, she smiled as she passed a mug towards him which Sonic accepted gratefully as he sat down. Amy, obviously happy to have at last some private time with him, settled herself closer, oblivious to his suppressed sigh at this.

"How are you today? I hope you enjoyed yourself on your birthday. I know _I_ did." She laughed a little at this last statement and laid an arm around the blue hedgehog, simultaneously resting her head against his shoulders.

Sonic panicked a little – _Just what on Mobius have I been saying/ doing to her last night?! – _but was saved from further worried guesswork as the doorbell rang.

Amy, seemingly disgruntled at this disturbance of her private hedgehog heaven, sighed and went, leaving Sonic to fight back the still regrouping headache with his own private armada of caffeine.

Soon the pink hedgehog came bouncing back into the kitchen, carrying a small brown object in one hand. "Look, Sonic, a _parcel_ for you! Just _what_ could it be?!"

_If _-I- _have had -_one-_ mug of coffee, this girl obviously had the rest of the packet..._

Still, feeling a little bit better after downing the rest of his cup, he smiled tentatively and took the rectangular parcel out of her hand.  
Sonic shot a somewhat puzzled glance at her expectant expression as she sat down opposite of him, but then proceeded to open it, slightly curious himself.

His eye ridges went upwards as he saw what was inside it – the paper revealed an old, worn book beneath it, cased in brown leather which was slightly dulled but still in good shape and radiating an aged dignity. The edges were additionally embroidered with brass metal, protecting the thick book from dents; set in it were small colourful drops which could either be real jewels or just glass-stones – Sonic assumed the latter, but they were very nice to look at nonetheless.  
He rubbed his thumb along the solid, broad back and let his gloved finger trail along the pages, gilded once but now only giving a faint shimmer of their former beauty. Finally, his hand came to rest upon the cover as he read the title:

_Arabian Nights_

"What…?"

"Oh Sonic, do you like it?! I picked it especially for you, it looked so pretty!"

The blue hedgehog winced again. The last time Amy had picked something as a present which 'looked SO pretty!' he had ended up with a gold ring around his neck – that he still wore actually, due to the fact that nobody knew how to get it off. The Egg Pawns who had put it on him sadly were not models equipped with a visual memory databank and Sonic had been sort of unconcious at that time. (1)

Sonic was just glad that Shadow, who was rather excitable on that point, had already taught everyone (in quite memorable lessons) that male hedgehogs wearing gold rings as jewelry were NOT to be made fun of.

"Uh…thanks, but why…?"

"It´s your birthday present, silly! Don´t you remember that I didn't give you anything yesterday?"

Oh, Sonic remembered. He had just chosen not to say anything since he had been fearing to end up with a ring in his ear this time.

"…now that you mention it, of course! Thanks a lot, Amy, it looks really interesting!" Relief flooded him as he realized that he was safe from any more jewelry-based attacks this year. He hugged the pink hedgehog with one arm who immediately turned a deeper shade of pink.

"I´m glad you like it. Sorry that it´s one day late, but I had to order it via the Internet and the mailman only brought it just now…"

"That´s okay. But, ah…" he gently disentangled himself from the girl that was once again threatening to suffocate him and tried his most engaging smile.

"Hey, how about we breakfast together later? It´s just, after that night I feel like I really need a morning run, then I´ll come back. I´m just going to race to the red mountains and maybe the coast, shouldn´t take longer than a heartbeat."

He saw her somewhat disappointed face at this, understood, and winked: "Don´t worry, I´m sure Tails will still be asleep when I get back. If you look at him now, he could be hibernating."

"Oh…okay. I´ll set the table, then. Hurry, right?" she was obviously pleased that he knew what she wanted but still sounded a little bit anxious, her lips turned up in a timid smile.

"Hey, you´re talking to the fastest thing alive!" A quick grin and he was gone, straight through the window and down the wall, relishing the feel of the fresh morning air on his face.

xxx

In fact, the 'heartbeat' Sonic had mentioned became more of a 'half-hour' as the miles stretched on, but the blue speedster was confident that he still had not broken his promise: Surely the small fox would still be dreaming soundly and it was only reasonable to assume that Amy would enjoy his company a lot more when he was actually well warmed up and relaxed – something he could only achieve by at least shattering the wall of sound a few times.

Filled with high spirits to the brim, Sonic dashed back to his apartment, ravenously hungry and looking forward to breakfast with his pink friend.

xxx

He was surprised, therefore, when he later entered his kitchen and found it empty.

Tails, as predicted, was sprawled on the couch and seemed to have not moved an inch, but of Amy there was no trace. He inspected the table and saw it was set for two, as she had promised to do. On her place, there lay the book as well – it appeared as if she had also read a little, since it was opened somewhere in the first chapter.

Frowning, Sonic called her name, but got no answer. Finally he shrugged; maybe she had gone to get some breadrolls, or (which was the worse alternative) she eventually got bored and/or mad because he took so long and left angrily.

The blue hedgehog sighed, hoping it was the first option. Getting his head smashed in with a hammer later would really put a damper on an otherwise really nice day.

Still, no reason to skip breakfast, possible future concussion or not.

"Hey, Tails. Wakey-wakey!" he grinned, bearing down on the amber fluffball on his couch and poking it for good measure. The fuzzthing twitched.

"…leamelone."

"Nothing doing, li´ll bro. You either get up peacefully or I´ll dump so much cold water on you that we´ll have to hang you up on your namesakes to get you dry."

Two small ears shot up, turning in all directions, alarmed. "…that´s blackmail!"

"You got _that_ right."

Sonic´s cheerful mood was enough to lighten even the spirits of a grumpy kitsune with a bad fur day and soon the two found themselves talking and joking as always, reliving the most grotesque moments of last night in between orange juice and aspirin.

"…and I still think tipsy Shadow looked good with that turquoise lampshade on his head – although when he kept calling Knuckles 'Lego-shoes' I didn't think the whole thing would end without a bloodbath, but …hey, what´s that?"

Sonic paused in his hysterics and looked at the object Tails had indicated.

"Oh, that. Amy left it here as a present for me. It looks quite nice, I think. Title sounds familiar somehow."

"It´s the famous _Arabian Nights,_ Sonic. A collection of foreign fairy-tales and adventures from the eastern countries, there are supposed to be over a thousand. The most well-known are the ones of Aladdin, Ali Baba or Sinbad the Sailor." The young fox was stroking the cover of the book admiringly.

"…if you say so. You interested in that kind of stuff?"

Tails´s cheeks reddened slightly. "Uh-huh, I, I actually happen to like fantasy a lot. Would you mind if I borrow the book?"

"Not at all. I wonder why Amy even gave it to me, I´m not the reading type anyway."

The two-tailed fox grinned cheekily. "Yeah, I know. You usually only read books with more pictures than text."

Sonic quirked an eyeridge in amusement and shot back instantly: "Hey! Aren´t you supposed to show respect to a hero? And besides, _your_ books have pictures, too."

"Yes, Sonic, but these pictures are what we call 'blueprints'. Probably too complicated for you, I understand."

"…sayyy, I think you´re becoming too good at retorts for my taste." Sonic was leaning forward on his arms, a sinister grin on his face.

The kitsune laughed. "I´ve been learning from the master, big bro!"

Sonic meanwhile had stood up and rounded the table, his eyes twinkling mischieviously.

"Is that so, Tails? Well, I hope you´ve learned how to escape noogies too, then…"

Lots of squealing, hiding behind furniture, racing-around-the-table, (and a few threats to fly Sonic out of the window and drop him over the swimming pool) later, both friends found themselves lying on the carpet, panting heavily.

"Now will you let me have that book and leave peacefully?"

"…only if you write a summary for me so I can spare Amy´s feelings by pretending that I actually _read_ the thing."

"Deal."

xxx

Tails left his friend´s apartment for the train station quite happily with the book under one arm and his mind in the clouds. Today would be wonderful: Finally no crazed scientists, equally whacko hedgehog robots _or _generic racist aliens...Just a day for relaxing, day-dreaming and probably also reading the newly acquired action-packed book.

At least, that was what Tails thought until he got the barrel of a gun shoved into his face.

"Sh-Shadow?!"

* * *

I´ve already killed Tails once in my fics, will I do it again?! (develops shifty eyes) ...or isn´t everything as it seems? Could Shadow be out for revenge for the lampshade incident?

(1) To get the full story behind that incident, please refer to my other two-shot, 'That Special Day'.

Please tell me what you thought of it, I´d really like to know whether you liked it and would continue to read! Thanks for coming with me until here:)


	2. Disturbed Slumber

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, the 4kids voice actors would be looking for new jobs.

**Hello there** and I´m happy to see that this fic has had such a wonderful reception! (and even more wonderful reviewers;) )

**playstation14: **We won´t hope that for Amy, now, won´t we? I´m glad that you liked her in her part, though. :)

**Ri2: **Oh no, not that different. I think by the end of the chapter you should feel in familiar surroundings again. Ah, why is Shadow threatening him (other than the fact that bullying smaller people is fun)? Well...read to find out! ;)

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Hey, you´re _good. _Thanks for commenting, let´s hope Shadow hears our pleas...

**kitvixen: **Hi there and welcome you to this story, too!:) It´s so cool that somebody picked up on the neckring thing, I thought it went rather well with the theme of the game. Shadow just likes to threaten things in my opinion. As for his real reasons - they will be revealed as soon as you read on!:)

**knuckles13: **Thanks, and I´m glad to oblige.

**Ember Rock: **(blushes) Thank you! I´m very happy that you like this, (and everyone else reading this should go check out her 'Poison Spear' one-shot, it´s very good) I liked the game´s plot as well and I hope my additional twists will enrich it. Sonamy will commence again soon, but there will be _complications_...;)

**DeniedLuv: **Eep! One update, as requested! Thanks for commenting.

**Rebell: **A hungover Shadow would be an awesome idea! Let´s keep that in mind for another one-shot...(rubs hands while grinning evilly, Shadow in the background groans) Hope you like Sonic´s interaction with the other characters, too, thank you again for commenting!:)

There you are. I hope this chappie is to your tastes as well. Please enjoy!

_Side Note_: Italicized words are usually sound effects when they stand alone.

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**Chapter 2: Disturbed Slumber **

_Last time..._

Tails left his friend´s apartment for the train station quite happily with the book under one arm and his mind in the clouds. Today would be wonderful: Finally no crazed scientists, equally whacko hedgehog robots _or _generic racist aliens...Just a day for relaxing, day-dreaming and probably also reading the newly acquired action-packed book.

At least, that was what Tails thought until he got the barrel of a gun shoved into his face.

"Sh-Shadow?!"

"Yes. I need a service of you."

"A-and you´re holding me at gun-point because…?"

"Well, so you can look at it, of course." The black hedgehog gave Tails a stare that quite obviously suggested the fox was a little bit retarded and proceeded to walk past the flabberghasted kitsune into Tails´ workshop on whose door he had just previously knocked.

Trying to calm down his heart that apparently was still convinced they would both die within the minute, the two-tail turned around to face his 'guest'. Shadow was now looking around the interior and aiming the laser gun at random things, squinting along the barrel.

"Eh, if you don´t like the furniture, that´s fine, but please don´t redecorate without ask-"

"The furniture is of no concern to me."

"Oh."

_Maybe he has found out that I filmed him while doing the limbo-thing?_

"Shadow, if this is about yesterday night, I´m sure I-"

"What? No. No, it isn´t." The black hedgehog interrupted again and instead held the weapon he carried out to Tails – the fox even managed to take it after the initial flinching that people around Shadow always seemed to develop.

"Right. So, uh, what would you like me to do with that?"

"It´s broken. I need repairs on it."

"But why are you carrying a gun around at all?"

"To shoot stuff that annoys me."

"…right."

_Mental Memo:_ Set that thing to Stun Only or else.

_Mental Memo Two: _Be sure to be well away when Shadow finds out.

"Right." Tails repeated, more confident this time now that mental plans had been laid.

"I´ll have it ready for you tomorrow morning, you can pick it up then."

"Thanks." Shadow nodded curtly, before promptly striding off again.

"What a weirdo." Tails mumbled to himself after closing the door and finally being able to relax.

He set the yet unopened book and some groceries down on the kitchen table and went to work on the gun immediately – as it turned out, it only had a few screws loose.  
_Just like its owner, _Tails thought and chuckled. He finished his task swiftly and smoothly. The laser was now set at a level to stun and not to injure and the fox thought he could be proud of himself.

Outside, it was now early afternoon and he laid the weapon aside, happily picking up the old, leather-bound book again, planning to read it on the deck chair on his balcony.

xxx

"Sonic!"

_Whump._

"Wake up!"

_Boom. _

"Wake up, or I´ll smash down this door!"

The addressed hedgehog groaned as yet another morning began with someone inexplicably unhappy that a hero was able to sleep.

"Sonic, that´s your last warning before I…"

"Shut it, Knucklehead, I´m coming!" Shuffling out of his bed, Sonic nearly fell over his shoes before he made it to the door. He yanked it open.  
"You know, you echidnas don´t always have to be so rude."

"_Rude?_! I have been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes!"

"Yeah, the last ten minutes past _six_. I think your biological clock has a cog loose, it´s not natural to be up so early…" the hedgehog grumbled, dragging himself over to the sink in the corner and allowing the echidna inside.

"Just for your information, on Angel Island I raise myself every day at sunrise when I´m performing my guardian duties."

Sonic groaned again at this horrible idea and splashed some cold water into his face to wake himself up. The dishevelled, blue-furred monster staring back at him from the mirror did nothing to better his mood.

"So," he started, "what on Mobius do you want at this time?"

"I have finished buying the repair parts I needed in the city. Now I was looking for Tails to give me a ride back up to the Island in the Typhoon."

The hedgehog was temped to give the guardian a ride down to the street through the window.

"Tails isn´t even _here_. You should know that he spends more time in his workshop in the Mystic Ruins than in my apartment. And for _that_ you´ve ruined my beauty sleep?!"

"…somehow I don´t think that would spoil much. Anyway, thanks for the information. I´ll go look for him there."

"Smartass." Sonic grumbled before shutting the door and promptly falling asleep again.

xxx

_Ring._

"Screw. You."

_Ring. Ring._

"I´m _not_ getting up again. It can barely be a few minutes since Knux has woken me up, so I´m definitely _not_ leaving the bed a second time before I´ve had my share of snoozies."

_Ring. Ring. Ringringringringring…._

Sonic shouted a few profanities that even Shadow would be embarrassed to hear and raised himself beneath the blanket to look for the horrible invention called telephone.

"Sonic the Hedgehog here. No hero services performed today, so please be nice and bother someone else trying to sleep."

"Har-de-harhar. Sonic, it´s me."

"_Knuckles?!_ Listen, if you´re not out of my life in five seconds, then I´ll-"

"No, Sonic, I´m calling from Tails´s place here. It´s strange."

"Huh? What?"

"I came here looking for him, but there´s no one there. The front door was unlocked, though, and there´s some shoppings on the kitchen table. The ice-cream has melted and is leaking out, so it looks as if it might have been there a while."

"…so what do you think?" Sonic was awake now, even if not overly worried. There were a hundred explanations why Tails could have forgotten something as trivial as some groceries.

"I don´t know. Maybe you could just come up here and have a look at it. The plane with the Chaos Emerald´s here, so he can´t have taken that. And I still need a ride up."

"…and you also just happened to remember that _I_ am the original owner of the Typhoon, right?" _Even if the little two-tailed genius has probably replaced every single part at least once by now. Knucklehead will be lucky if I even know how to fly that thing anymore, let alone land… _The hedgehog sighed.

"Anyway. I´m coming."

Sonic glanced at the clock. It was close to eleven now and since it was raining, he decided he could just catch the full-hour train.

xxx

"I _hate_ water! It doesn´t matter if it´s in a pool, or in the ocean, or being shot at me by ol´ Eggo or coming straight down from the sky like _this-"_ – Sonic made an angry swipe at the raindrops currently busy drenching him from head to foot – "but I really _hate_ it!"

Cursing certain echidnas under his breath, the hedgehog finally entered the door of his friend´s house, which was, as Knuckles had said, unlocked.

"Knuckles? You there?" he called, but received no answer.

_This is starting to become a habit._

The hero walked through the deserted workshop, grateful for the shelter and warmth it provided while the rain was still drumming against the windows.  
He passed the small pile of food on the kitchen table the echidna had told him about and continued inwards. Some tools and a tiny cylinder which Sonic recognized as a laser battery were scattered on a working bench but the project Tails must have been engaged in was nowhere to be seen. A small note was lying on the table, reading only '_Thanks_.', but although the slanted, tall handwriting seemed somehow familiar to Sonic, he couldn´t place it other than that it wasn´t Tails´s.

Finally, by now feeling slightly cold in his drenched fur, he entered the living room and something on the coffee-table attracted his attention. It was the only surface apart from the mess in the kitchen and the work bench where something lying on it disturbed the otherwise immaculate order.

Still shooting curious glances into any direction whether Tails or the others might not suddenly pop out from somewhere, Sonic closed in on the object. His expression changed into one of slight surprise as he recognized it.

_Arabian Nights_

…read the cover, just like the last time he had seen it, but the book now looked a whole lot worse. Its pages were convoluting with moisture, the leather darkened and stained with water. It seemed as if it had been out in the rain for some time, but obviously someone must have taken it in and also read a little, since it was, once again, opened somewhere in the near vicinity of the first chapter.

Sonic sighed.  
Tails wasn´t there, Knux wasn´t there and now he was all alone (and dripping) in this abandoned house somewhere out in the wildernis. The rain was making him unwilling to go outside and he had no clue how to find his friends. Just peachy.  
Suddenly, he shivered. And this was supposed to be June?

The hedgehog walked over to the fireplace and pressed the button that Tails had once installed for Christmas. At once, bright cheerful glowing flames erupted into life and Sonic at last felt some warmth returning into his body. He plopped down on the couch and stared at the wall.

_Now what am I supposed to do?_

He guessed he could call Amy. Sonic hadn´t seen her since yesterday morning, which meant that she was either _really_ mad or kidnapped by Robotnik. The hedgehog thought that the latter alternative would probably be even less painful for him. At least the Egg-pawns didn´t have as good an aim as a ticked-off Amy.

Then again, the Doctor had been uncharacteristically silent for the last few days. Usually he declared war to Station Square on Sonic´s birthday on principle alone, so the hedgehog couldn´t celebrate. (Discounting last year, of course, when they had ended up on that karaoke stage together, but Sonic somehow thought Eggman singing 'My sweet passion' had been a horrible one-off.) No, there had to be another reason why the madman hadn´t yet tried anything this time around and Sonic thought he probably wouldn´t like it when he found out.

He fixed the small globe that stood on the desk in front of him with a weary glare, as if that object was responsible for everything. The young kitsune was probably the only person to have a _globe_ instead of a television in his living room like normal people. Honestly, a globe?! That made even less sense than storing your collection of saxophones in the refridgerator. _Just why should anyone_-…?

Sonic sighed again and cut his brain off. Thinking in Rant Mode most certainly wouldn´t help.  
A yawn escaped his mouth. Despite already having slept a considerate portion of the day, the coziness of the fire and his thoughts going in circles started to make him drowsy again.

_What the heck. Maybe if I have a little nap on the couch here, Tails and Knux will be back by the time I wake up._

Lying on his back - and knowing quite well that Tails would probably yell at him for getting the couch full of hedgehog spikes _again_ -, Sonic grabbed for the book, wondering if he could (on account of the lack of TV) maybe read himself a bedtime story before dozing off. But as soon as he had skimmed the first few sentences, his eyelids grew heavy and he fell asleep, the damp pages landing on his face with a soft thud.

xxx

"Uhm…"

The hedgehog continued snoring.

"Hey, you! Wake up!"

* * *

**Talk about anticlimactic solutions, huh? But I´m sure everyone here wanted the little fox to _not_ end up as the first victim to 'make the plot interesting', so I hope you still like it and if you read, please review:) **

**Also, anyone wanting to find out more about a singing Eggman, please refer to 'That Special Day' again, even though this story won´t be littered with references. **

**Next up: Anyone have a Ouija board? - Spirited Conversations!  
**


	3. Spirited Conversations

Disclaimer: If I owned this game, the level designer responsible for the rotating razor blades would have been shot.

Well, bad stats for this story, but an awesome review count! Thank you all so much, especially those who commented twice:)

**Knuckles13: **Thanks. I hope you like this chappie as well.:)

**Playstation14: **Here you go. And I agree with you on that - when they first announced he was going to carry a gun around, I was sceptical about the gameplay, but it is absolutely awesome for us fanfic writers!

**DeniedLuv: **(raises eye brow) So, you think you know where this is going? Well, find out if you´re right! I´m glad you like it so far. :)

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **(shakes head defeatedly) That prooves it. Absolutely no way to let anything escape your notice. ;) Still, that only means I´ll try harder to come up with some nice plot twists! (blushes) Thank you so much for your kind review!

**kitvixen: **I´m happy you liked that part. Knuckles bugging Sonic and vice versa is one of my all-time faves, so expect to see some more of that soon.

**Ri2: **Ahh, I can´t tell you _now_, can I? ;) But so far you´re right...also, I´m fairly positive that lasers do have screws...if not, I guess you could say that it´s a laser made by Eggman, and all his inventions are screwy anyway. (grimaces at bad pun) ah, English is not my first language anyway, screw it. . As for the globe thing...well, I tried to decorate the room exactly like the one you see in the first cutscene of the game. For some reason, those guys decided to have a globe there - I think that´s _proof_ we´re in Tails´ house.;) Robotnik and the karaoke thing...yeah, that´s also from the 'That special day' story, I forgot to mention the reference. I had some fun typing that particular fic...XD Glad you liked the chapter, thanks for the review:)

**Rebell: **Yup. 'Misunderstood'. Definitely. At least that´s what _I´d _say, if he was standing behind me...XD And now...the mysterious identity trying to raise our blue hedgie is REVEALED! And since Knuxy is my third favourite character in the franchise (one point five guesses as for who the first two are ;) ) he´ll have his share of screentime too, glad you liked his appearance. :) Thanks a lot for commenting!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Spirited Conversations**

"Um…" With those impressive first words, a voice suddenly cut through the endless song of falling rain and crackling fire.

The hedgehog, however, continued snoring.

"Hmph!" The speaker now seemed to be the teeniest bit disgruntled. "Hey, wake up!"

Finally, the quilly mass on the couch stirred. Sonic yawned and stretched blindly. "T-Tails…? Izzat you?" He mumbled. His hand, apparently assuming that he was still sleeping in his apartment bedroom, started to grope around on the table where the alarm clock usually would be. The globe was knocked over.

"What time is it…?" Still only half-awake, his fingers finally closed around an object that had previously been concealed by the book before the hedgehog had lifted it. After the thing being fumbled prooved to be distinctly un-alarm-clock-like, Sonic frowned and focused properly for the first time. His hand had grabbed a palm-sized gold ring, not dissimilar to the one around his neck, albeit much thicker.

"Huh?"

"You are the blue hedgehog!" the voice proclaimed triumphantly.

"Well, last time I checked, anyway…seriously, Tails, have you been drinking more from that punch than Shadow or why are you so-_aaaah! What the_…?!" Sonic´s mouth had been running on auto-pilot while focusing on the strange ring, but as soon as he had looked up, his brain was reeling. Before him, floating and apparently completely at ease, was a human girl…a human girl with pointy ears, anyway.

"Do not be alarmed!" She held her hands up in a pacifying gesture. Indeed she didn´t seem to be too dangerous. Outright pretty in fact, if you were into that whole non-fur thing.

To Sonic it had always seemed a little strange that humans felt comfortable walking around without gloves, but for her part, the girl appeared modestly dressed. She wore long, billowing cream harem pants, that seemed to float with her form. Flowing from the fine, rose-coloured belt around her hip was a translucent cloth, reminding the hedgehog of a skirt that wasn´t quite there – it too, was moving in an invisible breeze as if it didn´t quite belong into this world.  
Her sleeveless top was a lighter, pastel-violet colour, made from some smooth, thin material. She had a faintly apologetic expression on her face along with a shy, unsure smile, and along with her clothes, it made her seem oddly fragile and almost ethereal, as if the smallest gust of wind could blow her away and change her course. That girl seemed to have less substance than a normal person, almost if something had been sucking it away from her…

The only other thing notable about the stranger was probably her hair. It was shaped like a permament copper question mark above her head, giving her a slightly confused and curious look and also the only thing on her that seemed like a firm constant in comparison to her wavering body. Her skin was a lot darker than that of the majority of humans living in Station square, olive coloured, but somehow she still managed to look a little pale underneath it. The face of the girl was thin and slender with high cheek-bones, giving her a faintly exotic look. She also wore a little bit of jewelery, but like the rest of her person it wasn´t very showy and you only actually noticed it if you looked twice. All in all, she didn´t seem like someone anyone could be afraid of or worried by.

"I am Shahra, the Genie of the Ring!"

_Mental Memo:_ Stop making judgements based on clothing.

Sonic was wondering if that strange creature could probably be responsible for Tails´ disappearance and eyed her warily. One of the two people in this room had to be mad and he hoped it wasn´t him.

Shahra got even more nervous as she saw the hedgehog´s unease and disbelief. She tried to explain herself better: "You know, like 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'?"

_More like 'Magic Mushrooms'_, Sonic thought but then saw that the girl was pointing to one of the stories in the book.

"I don´t think I´ve read that." He said very carefully.

"What?!" Shahra seemed to be as shocked as a librarian watching a grinning person carrying a shredder inside the library. "You´ve got to be kidding me! It´s the best story of all the _Arabian Nights_! Or at least the second best…but that´s beside the point! Please, look at this!" She leafed through a few more pages and then showed Sonic another part of the book.

Taken by surprise, Sonic didn´t think twice before looking at it and then frowning. "Hey, the page is almost blank!" An exclamation mark appeared over his head. Sonic ignored it. "I could have sworn there was lots of text in it when Amy shoved it into my face yesterday…" he muttered, his curiosity picked.

"Our world…the world of the _Arabian Nights_ is vanishing." Shahra spoke again, this time her tone a lot more subdued and anxious. As if on cue, the last few letters still on the page began to disappear.

"Say what?!" Sonic had taken a step back from the freaky book. "Vanishing? The world of the Arabian Nights? Oh gods, I think I´m still dreaming…" the blue hedgehog was too confused to even use italics.

"No, you are awake! I really _am _a Genie and I come from this book, please believe me! And…every good story creates a world all of its own, every child knows that. Adults tend to forget it, but all those ideas and fantasies really exist!...somewhere."

Sonic stared at her. He had already had his share of alternate universes and _really _strange adventures, so this wasn´t such a far step.

"Allright. Suppose I believe you. _How_ do these stories vanish?"

She looked away. "This is the work of an incredibly…" she paused here, but then continued, "…e-evil spirit. The Erazor Djinn."

"'Erazor Djinn'?" Sonic repeated. _That is even worse than the whole 'eggscellent' thing Robuttnik has going…_

Shahra, misinterpreting the hedgehog´s cringing at the bad pun for interest, continued:

"He used his evil magic to become even more powerful. He could not bear to simply remain in the book any longer. And so he has begun to set the inscriptions free, creating monsters and absorbing the power of the book itself!"

"…right."

_Never, ever will I eat pop-tarts past their expiration date before going to sleep again._

"If our world ceases to exist, then not only those stories will be silenced forever, but the Erazor Djinn will then be unleashed into your world." She moved her hand a little at this and Sonic jumped as he saw his own shadow on the wall slowly transforming into that of a looming, humanoid figure, broad-chested and radiating a sense of foreboding. He stared at Shahra, then pinched himself in the ear.

"So…I´m not dreaming. And you really can do magic. So this means all you said is…" he thought about it for a short while and then let out a small whimper.

"But you need to stop him! Only you, the blue hedgehog can do it!"

That sounded like familiar territory again, and Sonic relaxed. In his life, accepting the impossible occurred more often than one would think and so he felt he could just go with the flow in this case. He _was_ a hero after all.

"So, this guy needs someone to put him in his place, does he?" as Shahra´s face lit up with his words, he flashed her his trademark grin. "I suppose I can help out with that. It might even be fun. And maybe Tails and Knuckles will be back when I´m finished, too…"

A guilty look seemed to flit over the genie´s face at this, but it was gone so fast that Sonic couldn´t be sure. "These two people you mentioned…they don´t happen to be a black and a pink hedgehog, do they?" she asked tentatively.

Sonic frowned. "No. These two would be somebody else. No, I was talking about a two-tailed fox and something that´s red and usually angry. Why, have you seen them?" Sonic regarded her with a suddenly curious expression.

"Me? No! No, I was merely guessing. We genies are quite good at that." She blushed a little and Sonic was quite confused, but decided not to explore the topic further.

"Whatever you say, Shahra. But how am I actually supposed to do anything about that evil djnn?"

She smiled again. "That´s easy. You are my master, having called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I am able to grant your wishes. Simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the _Arabian Nights_ is within my power."

"What?! Inside that book?" Sonic´s eyes widened at this and grew even more in size as the floating girl suddenly transformed into a ring on the table.

"Now please, place the ring on your finger." Her voice came from nowhere and Sonic jumped again.

"…are you sure I shouldn´t throw it in the fire and then glowing letters will appear on it, written in the evil language of Mordor?"

"_What?!"_

"Just kidding…"

He took the small object carefully and, frowning, slid it on his hand. "Like this?"

Without a warning, sparks erupted from the gold circlet and it seemed to tighten around the finger until Sonic wasn´t sure if he could get it off again. "Ouch! Take it easy!"

"My apologies, o Master. But now, the contract has been sealed."

"Yeah, and the blood circulation in my finger probably right along with it. A little less tight, please? And what was that about a contract?"

"As master of the ring, I am now bound to protect you. Rub the ring to call me."

Sonic, curious, did so and raised an appreciative eye ridge as the genie appeared before him in a puff of smoke.

"Oh Master of the ring, what is thy wish?"

The blue hedgehog smiled at the old-fashioned wording, but then the smoke caught in his nostrils and he sneezed rather violently.

"Eh…how about a handkerchied for starters?" he ventured, grinning.

Seconds later, Tails´s living room was ready to hold the bob-sled championships. Sonic carefully extracted himself from the mount of white tissues, just keeping one of them for finally blowing his nose. Well, at least the small fox couldn´t yell at him for the ruined couch if he´d never found it, right?

He winked at Shahra. "Thanks! You´re a life saver. You see, I caught this cold because of stupid Knucklehead today, and…"

The genie meanwhile, wondered what she´d done to deserve this. "Please, be serious!"

"Okay, okay! Thank´s for the hankies, though." The hero grinned again and threw the used tissue in the fire place. "Alright…let´s go! Take me to this world of the _Arabian Nights_!"

She cast him another worried glance, hoping that she really _had _chosen the right one. She clapped her hands. "As you wish, Master!"

Sonic rolled his eyes at that address, giving her a wink. "Quit it, will you! My name´s Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!"

For the first time since they´d met, she tried another, genuine smile. "Very well, then, Sonic…the _Legendary Hedgehog._ Here we go! Into the world of the _Arabian Nights!"_ Even while the words were leaving her mouth, something began to take shape in thin air. A broad grin spread across Sonic´s face as he recognized the item. A genuine flying carpet!

"Oh man!" he jumped on it, "Tails would freak out if he saw this, li´ll guy absolutely _hates_ everything that´s not working with logic…but this is first class! Here we go!"

The hedgehog´s eyes were shining with exitement as the carpet slowly rose beneath him, Shahra by his side, and the book on the table suddenly seemed to _expand_, becoming even bigger than the room while the walls somehow…stretched…

Sonic marveled at the physical impossibilities of this, but didn´t worry too much. Chaos Control actually looked somewhat similar to that and besides, they were heading for adventure! The blue hero whooped as the carpet began to spiral downwards, into the book that had suddenly become a tunnel…strange smells and sounds started to emanate from it, telling tales from exotic locations and hinting at unexplored lands…

The book closed behind them and the latest chapter of the _Arabian Nights_ was just about to begin.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Wheee! Another chapter finished, _and_ we´re finally into the game! okay, IMPORTANT question: this chapter was a quite close 1:1 transcript of the dialogue in the game.  
So, those of you who´ve played it: Should I stick to the lines that are given (like in this chappie) or rephrase them in my own way?  
Those of you who haven´t bought the thing: Did it sound good or wooden? Did everything make sense? Feedback really appreciated! 

**If you read, please review:) **


	4. Lost Prologue

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, you would have at least been able to raise an Ali Baba Chao. 

**Review Responses!**

**Luigifan1: **I´m glad you liked the chapter. If you loved the lines from the game, I´m sure that you´ll smile at this chappie, too, thanks for giving me your opinion!.:) I, too, can´t wait to write the Sindbad Scenes...XD

**azngirlchibi: **Here you go, another chapter from another story...hope you like it.:) Thanks for the comment!

**eeh: **You´re dead on, mate. But you should be prepared for a helluva lot more changes...;)

**Antithesis: **Thanks for the advice, I think I will. Yup, gotta love fanfiction...now to pair Sonic and Shads! ...ehhh, just joking...XD

**playstation14: **Well, for this chapter, I did, I hope it still flows smoothly. As for the Sonic game storylines...I have to say to understand that whacko heroes game I had to read a fanfic novelization. xx Sa2b´s story is still the best they ever had...(sigh) Thanks for taking the time to review! .:)

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **And as fanfic author of the ring, your wish is my command! ;) Well, I´m glad that this fic suits your talents and your taste. As for your question: All the jokes (except for the hankys) were mine, the rest is in-game dialogue. I´m really interested in your opinion here, because you´re probably really good at picking up on things that don´t make sense or sound strange, especially when you haven´t played the game. I´m really happy you like this story though, thanks for commenting! ..:)

**Ember Rock: **Glad you like the explanation, there´s still some more stuff concerning that to follow.:) I was suprised (pleasantly) that you thought the third chapter better than the first two, I actually thought it was too slow-paced. I will be very interested to hear what you think of this one! How many times I watched the cutscenes? (shudders, goes pale) I-...I don´t want to talk about it, please...(starts rocking back and forth slowly)...naaa, it wasn´t actually that bad. I´ve got a good memory for quotes and words. :) well, this chappie is still quite game-like, but I think the next ones should be more indepently written...as for the voice acting...hmm, you could play the game once more in Japanese? ;) (blushes) thanks!

**kitvixen: **Happy to hear that. Some more dialogue to follow and maybe I can work in one more pop-tart reference in later chapters...XD thanks for the comment:)

**Ri2: **Thanks! Ah, yes, what did Shahra do...? Well, Sonic will find out, that´s for sure. Just not in this chapter. XD And ooooh, you just _wait_ what Amy will think. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 4: Lost Prologue**

For Sonic, the entire world had suddenly turned into searing white light. He gasped and shielded his eyes from the brightness, reminiscent of looking at a blank white page in the glaring sunlight.

His other senses told him that the soft carpet beneath him was slowly rising and then propelling them ever faster forwards. His stomach lurched and although he was slightly nervous, the hedgehog couldn´t suppress a grin at this roller-coaster ride. He could feel wind rushing against his face and the air smelled strange…a little bit like inside an old library, a little bit like the midday desert breeze…Sonic thought he could hear pages rustling in the distance, too – or was that sand dunes, patiently grinding their grains against each other? He just wished he could open his eyes but when the blinding light finally vanished, the strangest sight greeted his vision.  
In fact, it reminded him slightly of the special zones where he had used to hunt for Chaos Emeralds earlier – except it was totally different.

The special zones had never been big in the Arabic architecture department, for example.

He seemed to stand in a huge, swirly corridor, with no clearly recognizable walls or ceiling. Instead, there were giant pages floating all around them, fluttering in the invisible winds and churning amber mists that reached from one horizon to the next. Everything, including the mosque-like stone arcs in the distance was the colour of sand…_or parchment,_ Sonic thought.

"Sha-Shahra! Where the heck _are_ we?" he asked incredulously, his eyes wide in wonder.

"This, oh Master, the Lost Prologue. The entry to the world of the _Arabian Nights._"

The carpet beneath his behind vanished and Sonic gave a small yelp as he dropped to the ground. Upon examining it (the ground, not his backside) more closely, he found that even the floor he was standing on was nothing more but ridiculously large pages, apparently levitating in mid-air, one by one connecting to a more than nine feet wide path that continued further into the distance. The writing on them was faded, but seemed to consist of Arabic script as well.

Sonic suddenly was aware of the fact that the only thing separating him from an eternal drop into strange, swirly mist was a thin sheet of paper.

"You seem awfully pale, Legendary Hedgehog…" the genie was deeply worried as she noticed the sudden sky-blue complexion of her companion.

"Eh…Shahra, you wouldn´t be able to make the carpet come back, by any chance…?" Sonic was frantically trying to decide whether moving around or standing still bore the greater risk of instant death.

The girl lowered her head in shame. "No, I am sorry…my magic is not that powerful, so I have to save it in case there´s an emergency…."

_Mental Memo: _Get that genie to set her priorities straight.

"Well, uh, but don´t you think that this would be the case about right _now?"_

He tried not to flinch as he thought he could feel the fabric underneath his feet denting in ever so slightly. Shahra looked at him curiously for a few moments before finally something seemed to snap into place in her head.

"Oh, no!" She smiled. "There´s no need to worry, the _Arabian Nights_ aren´t stories that would let you down. You can continue without fear."

"…if you say so, Shahra…" Sonic tentatively put one sneaker forward and was relieved when the page didn´t get so much as a small tear even when it had to support his weight concentrated on just one foot.

Emboldened, he took a few steps forward before finally breaking into a full-fledged run: No matter where the place, time or dimension: there was nothing that could compare to _this!_

He grinned as his surroundings became even blurrier than before and gave a surprised laugh as he suddenly noticed Shahra floating right next to him, effortlessly keeping up with his speed as she was still tied to the ring on his finger.

His run, however, came to a full stop when a strange, cubic obstacle popped out of nowhere.

Shahra winced as she saw for the first time what a flattened super-sonic hedgehog looked like. "Master! Are you hurt?!"

Sonic waited for a few moments until the ringing in his ears stopped so he could make sense of her words, a concussion being the last thing he needed, now. A low hiss escaped his throat as he rubbed the tender portion of his head furiously.

"My pride, mostly. I think I broke it."

"But didn´t you see the block?"

Sonic sighed. "Yes, Shahra, I saw it. I thought I´d run up to it to give it a hug."

The genie only looked confused at this and Sonic sighed again, wondering whether he might have just ended up with another sarcasm-disabled individual like Cream. Suppressing the throbbing in his bruised snout, he tried a small, reassuring smile as he continued,

"What the heck are those anyway? I´ve never seen anything like it, not even in the special zones!"

He ran a hand along the side of the translucent cube and thought it felt like cool glass, even if it was at the same time giving off a strange, faint blue glow. It just sat there innocently, (although Sonic was certain that if a cube could look smug, this one did) while he thought he could see a few other, bigger replicas of this one floating somewhere in the distance.

"Well…" the girl looked at him uncertainly. "I think they might be what you could call…Writer´s Blocks. They started to appear as soon as Erazor had started destroying our ancient stories and I think without those, authors all over your world are loosing their inspiration. In our world, they manifest like this, before they pass over into yours."

Sonic blinked.

"…okay…"

_This is getting way too literal. _

Weirded out by the blocks, Sonic neatly dodged around the thing, picking up speed again and watching out for more obstacles. As soon as he had settled into a steady rhythm again, he thought of another topic which he felt more suited to handle.

"So, about that guy who´s trying to make the world disappear…"

"You mean the…Erazor Djinn?"

_No, that guy from the Burger World commercial, _Sonic thought and rolled his eyes, still somewhat testy after experiencing a 'writer´s block' first hand, but any animosity disappeared instantly as he shot a glance towards Shahra again and saw her eyes briefly shimmering with tears.

_She must be really afraid of that dude…I probably shouldn´t say anything like that. _

Giving her an encouraging grin instead, he answered: "Yeah, that´s right. Could you take me to him?"

As soon as he had uttered those words, however, a purple flash seemed to slice the air in two in front of them. Sonic gasped in surprise as Shahra shrieked. More glowing lines appeared instantly. They were criss-crossing themselves in a complicated pattern, creating odd circles where they met. A huge, wallowing portal seemed to emerge from the center of the light-show, and Shahra pointed towards it in panic.

"There is no need!"

"Whaddaya mean?" Sonic was staring at the display in surprise, all his muscles tensed in anticipation of anything, but his mind clueless on how to act.

"_He´s here!"_

A final explosion of purple light blinded him and then there was someone else with them. Sonic barely had time to dodge, but years of combat experience meant that his body reacted instantly as soon as his eyes recognized that characteristic glint of light on a blade.

The sword hardly nicked his skin as Sonic backflipped.

He landed a few feet away on one knee, next to Shahra, who seemed equally shocked. The hedgehog only noticed then that a small patch of his blue fur appeared to be suddenly slightly shorter than the rest.

Talk about close 'shaves'… 

Time to take this seriously. Sonic went into a ready crouch, giving his opponent his trademark cocky grin. "Hey, you! Maybe you know where I could get my quills sharpened, too?"

Which was, of course, complete nonsense. One, anything like that would have been excruciatingly painful and two, Sonic prided himself on the fact that his spikes could already cut through metal effortlessly. But hey, it had been a cool retort nonetheless.

"Sonic! That´s him! He´s the evil spirit who´s striking the words of the world from the pages!" Shahra called out, her finger pointing at the new arrival and trembling. Sonic idly wondered why _he _was never introduced in those kind of talks, but still took a closer look, now that he knew who he was dealing with.

The figure was impressive. He also looked rather human, with the exception of his pointed ears and his charcoal black eyes. Red points of light were glowing in them like holes into a furnace and a set of shining teeth was bared in a leering grin. His crimson hair, tied into a pony tail, was swaying overhead wildly, rather like Shahra´s, but while her whole being seemed to radiate gentleness, modesty and shyness, this was pure rage and chaos unleashed. His dark brown leather cloak was flaring behind his bare, muscled chest as if caught in a violent storm and the purple lights encircling him were being reflected in the huge metallic buckle of the belt around his waist, on the brass large cuffs he wore on both wrists…and, of course, on his giant curved sword.  
It was kind of hard not to notice that.  
They went nicely with his dark violet trousers, too, the fabric of the material stretching over the bulging muscles in places.

All in all, from his leather shoes with the curly tips on to the broad face with the massive brow and chin, he was probably more than seven feet tall. The djinn´s face and body also were decorated with blood-red, tattoo-like lines, giving the impression of scars in places or tribal signs. To top it all off, he had a vermillion goatee, too.  
_Not_ someone you wanted to come across in a dark alley.

(Or in a day care center, for that matter.)

But still… Sonic could only stare at his skin. 

"Dude…you´re _pink_!"

The lovely rose-coloured face of the djinn suddenly turned a very vivid purple and the hedgehog wondered whether that exclamation on his part had really been that smart. But _damn, _had that expression been worth it.

"YOU!" The spirit hollered, "You must be the blue rat that just got added to the story!"

"_Excuse me?!" _

Now it was Sonic´s turn to glare. Throwing insults at ol´ Robuttnik had always been fine and dandy but he wasn´t used to the tables being turned around.

"Don't you know anything, pinky-boy?! I´m not a rat! I´m a hedgehog!" Sonic shouted at him, thumbing his own chest proudly. If that Erazor guy wanted it to come to a battle of quips, he was in for one huge surprise.

"You´re right about the 'blue' part, though.", Sonic continued, "I mean, with your fashion sense I would have thought you to be colour-blind, but-"

"I AM ERAZOR DJINN! I AM THE ONE WHO SHALL CARVE THIS WORLD UP AS I SEE FIT!"

_Somehow, _Sonic thought, _I must have hit a nerve. _

He struck a pose opposite the fuming Djinn, crossing his arms in front of his torso while grinning.

"Yeah…well, if you´re going to do that, can you at least wait until I´m done reading it first?"

"Sonic…" Shahra squeaked his name behind him, horrified.

(Which was nothing new. The hedgehog tended to get that reaction a lot when his companions experienced first-hand that riling up homicidal madmen with three-feet-long swords was still considered 'FUN!' by him. And you thought hanging around Shadow could get dangerous?)

Shahra, for her part, didn´t know whether genies actually had biological hearts but she didn´t fancy much the option of finding out by Sonic trying to make it stop.

"P-please…" she groaned, but was drowned out as Erazor had already launched into his speech once more.

"One hundred of the One Thousand and One Nights have already been wiped clean! And soon, the rest shall join them, _night by night! _And then, with the seven World Rings-"

"Huh? Wait a moment," Sonic, who had been tapping his foot, interrupted, "you´re doing it wrong, here´s where you gabble on about the seven _Chaos__ Emeralds_, not-"

The pink Djinn didn´t even acknowledge the hedgehog´s protests, but instead suddenly rounded in on Shahra, who flinched.

"You _have_ gathered the seven World Rings for me, have you not, Shahra…_my dear_?"

The last two words were a parody of themselves and Sonic shuddered as they left his mouth, containing a horrible mixture of affection and cruelty.

The girl´s face screwed up in pain at this, but the expression was gone so fast that the blue hero wasn´t sure that it had even been there. He did notice, however, the hungry fire that now seemed to burning in the black eyes of Erazor, a twisted longing and desire. Sonic couldn´t even say whether it was for those Rings, or…

"A-are you still going on about that? I told you, those things don´t even exist! And even if they did, I´d never give them to you!" Shahra´s voice had been shaking at first but then grew stronger, her expression now defiant and her whole body rigid.

"Oh! Wouldn´t you, though…?" His lips drew up in a small, sly smile and Shahra suddenly looked a whole shade paler, her earlier confidence crumbling, turning her face away.

The only thing Sonic saw, however, was a giant bully picking on his friend.

"Now listen, Mr. Candyfloss, if you don´t want to see my hedgehog spikes up _close_, you will…"

Erazor didn´t even look at the hero. Instead, he drew back again and held his right hand up, the fingertips of his thumb and middle finger touching. He snipped. His index finger erupted into flames.

"I suppose a suitable punishment is in order, then…" his eyes lit up with sickly joy as he pointed the digit at the smaller female.

"_Look out!"_ Sonic screamed, but the girl seemed too terrified to move. Her head was turned down and her eyes closed as if what was coming now was inevitable and she was merely a puppy in a shop selling fur coats.

Sonic´s grin had disappeared. This was all going horribly wrong! The bad guys were supposed to pick on _him_, not aim for his friends! …or at least, his friends had usually been able to defend themselves – but Shahra was not Tails, who would have dodged. Shahra was not Knuckles or Amy who would have charged.  
(Fortunately Shahra also wasn´t Shadow, who would have just Chaos Blasted Erazor – _and_ half of the surroundings – into oblivion, but…)

Shahra was just Shahra.

And when the Djinn flicked his finger and the fire soared towards her she didn´t do a thing.

Sonic lunged.

* * *

**Yes, there´s actually a pink villain in this game. I think it´s awesome. **

**Please read and review:-) **


	5. The Thing from the Sands

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, Uhu in Dinosaur Valley would have been eaten by a triceratops. Long ago.

Righty-ho, I´m really sorry for the long wait...had to work hard for this chapter. But here we are, and of course it´s time for...

**Review Replies! **

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Your suggestion is..._really clever_. Seriously! It never occurredto me, because he lunges in the game anyway, but now that you say it, it´s so obvious:) (laughs) Man, Sonic really should have you by his side, you could have saved him so much trouble...well, I guess in his defence we can say he´s not very used to working with genies yet, so that´s why he didn´t think of it. Anyway, I´m so happy you love the story, I´m always looking forward to your comments. :) And I agree with you...Sonic team _should_ hire fanfic authors for their game scripts, lots of people here do so much better jobs than those who currently get paid for the background stories. XD

**Ri2: **I actually think it´s a question of the light. When you see him in the sunshine, he could definitely pass as pink, in the moonlight it´s more purple...I´ve also been working with fanarts a lot when it comes to descriptions, since Erazor for some reason refuses to pose for me and hold still when playing the game. Bastard.

**Luigifan1: **Glad you liked the little sequence of fear. It came to my mind when writing the description almost instantly. _I´d_ freak out if I was standing on paper above and abyss, too. ;) And yup, bantering in general is my all-time-fave. When I´m not writing teary dialogues for dieing characters, they´re usually making rude remarks. And Shadow and Chaos Blast...(sighs dreamily) it´s a match made in heaven. A burning-things type of match anyway. Thanks a lot for all those comments, did you say you liked the 'Life could have...' story as well:) As for removing that arrow...when it comes to pulling magical objects out of something, you could possibly ask King Arthur? ;)

**Ember Rock: **I´m happy you like the little explanations - I first saw it in one of JudasFM´s fics, thought I´d try it, too. Glad it worked. :) I actually feel sorry for Erazor, though...it´s hard to be menacing when people ask you if you´ve just escaped from My Little Pony. Ah yes, and cliffies...I actually like them in other authors´ fics now and then, adds some excitement to my life (and saves me the trouble of jumping down from high objects in search of suspense.) Thanks so much for the comments, they´re really helpful when you point out what went well:)

**kitvixen: **You bet, man, you bet...Shahra with Shadow´s personality and powers would put a whole new meaning to the word 'revenge'. Like, 'apocalypse'. XD

**Dragonbreath1: **Possibly the League Against Defamation of Male Pink Villains, is you ask me. Currently they only have two members (Erazor and Birdo) but that won´t stop them from trying. And they´ll spit eggs at you.

**Forgotten Muse: ** Yes, the writer´s block was fun to write. Especially since the thing sat in my neck for weeks...thanks for the comment, glad you enjoy the fic as well:)

**Antithesis: **Yup, that´s Sonic as we love him, glad this fic is able to entertain. About my writing style...if you want to see me in full serious drama-mode, I suggest 'Life could have been so different'. This fic will have its serious moments (especially later) but I´m trying to expand my repertoire of writing styles, so you´ll see me trying to write comedy and action here...at which I´ll probably fail pitifully, but you can laugh at me when I´m down.

**azngirlchibi: **Sonic will be in a huff for _weeks, _the writer´s blocks are getting more mentionings in the reviews than him...XD Thanks a lot for the comment, I´m glad you´re enjoying the fic. Watch the laughing, though, some of my teachers had ears like _foxes_ and there always was this horrible feeling of dread when you suddenly realize they´re standing behind you and have been looking at your screen for the past three minutes. ;)

**Rebell: **Hi there, I´m happy you still like the story! And yeah, you´re _so_ right about that feeling of writer´s block! The descriptions should continue to be plentiful and illustrating (I hope), since that´s what I think a proper adaption should look like and I don´t want to leave anyone behind. :) I´m actually looking for any novelizations for handheld sonic games, but there aren´t any...:( anyway! Even though I could have in between really used that spatula of yours, the chappie is finally finished! Please enjoy. :)

**AnimeBabe: **(something vaguely innocent and mostly undeserving ducks) ehhh...yeah, about that! (smiles, obviously nervous) well...there is something planned, I can say that much! Even though it might not be exactly what you suggest-...(swallows)...would you put that pointy object away? please? But yeah, you´re right, Amy didn´t star in that game, nor did Shadow. ;) As for how, if and when those two show up, you´ll just have to wait and see! Sorry your reveiws got deleted, I´d have liked to hear your thoughts...well, ffnet is EVIL, we know that much. Thanks a lot for this one, though:)

* * *

**Chapter 5**: The Thing from the Sands

_Last time… _

I suppose a suitable punishment is in order, then…" Erazor´s eyes lit up with sickly joy as he pointed the digit at the smaller female.

"Look out!" Sonic screamed, but the girl seemed too terrified to move. Her head was turned down and her eyes closed as if what was coming now was inevitable and she was merely a puppy in a shop selling fur coats.

Sonic lunged.

And the impact knocked the breath out of him.

He had seen the streak of fire rushing towards his chest and anticipated burning, had braced himself for pain. But what he hadn´t been prepared for…

…was the feeling of an invisible arrow piercing his heart.

His back arced in mid-air and he dropped to the ground, Shahra gasping as she saw what he had done. Sonic landed on his feet, but was staggering. His eyes widened as he saw that the flame was still sitting on his chest, blazing just above his heart which was thumping like mad, as if fighting against an invisible adversary.

"W-what?" He stared first at his own body, which was miraculously neither dying nor burning up and then noticed almost unconciously that the flame didn´t even seem to be scalding his face. Uncomprehending, the hero leveled a glare at the Djinn. Erazor, who had snarled at Sonic intercepting his projectile now burst out laughing.

"_Aha…ahahaha!_ So this is how Judgement is dealt, is it? Hmm..." He stroked his goatee and regarded both of them with a carefully calculating look in his eyes.

"This should be interesting. You listening? Bring me the seven World Rings before the arrow of flame extinguishes. If you do not…" he trailed off here, watching Sonic with unconceiled malice.

"Then _what?_" the hedgehog snapped at him. He was usually rather cool in any fights against ridiculously large enemies (which had so far also ensured his survival) but the thing in his chest was definitely not normal fire and it also wasn´t going away, and that could unnerve anyone.

_"…your life is forfeit!_ The arrow will burn up your heart, if you fail!" Erazor boomed, pointing towards the still flickering flame, his eyes blazing with the light of victory. "Next, I think I shall collect the life of King Shahryar…" The purple lights still swirling around the three once more engulfed him and the laughing Djinn vanished, leaving behind an atmosphere thick with spent dark magic, a trembling genie and a very, _very_ confused hedgehog. Shahra was the first to find her voice again.

"You…you saved me!"

She was now staring at Sonic with ridiculously large eyes, a look of utter shock and disbelief on her face as if the hedgehog had just declared his undying love for Erazor instead.

"Well, he was threatening you. What else could I have done?" he shrugged and tried a small, weary smile. He was probably just as badly shaken as she, but he knew that at least one of them had to keep calm now. And a hero was not supposed to panic…

…even when he now had a private chest barbecue going on. Still, at the moment his heart seemed to be doing just fine.

"But, but…" the genie was exasperated, holding up her hands in front of her and staring at them as if they could possibly explain anything.

"I am a _genie_! Never, ever, in the whole history of the _Arabian__ Nights_ has a master of a spirit shown such consideration, such kindness, even sacrificing himself to protect…" she paused, before adding, "...me?" she looked at him, and now there was a definite wet, shimmering trail on one of her cheeks.

"Oh, Shahra." Sonic shook his head, before doing the only thing he could think of whenever someone he liked was so confused or even close to tears.

Shahra gasped as she found herself buried in the first hug she had ever received from any of her masters.

Sonic gripped her tightly, until the shivering subsided a little and then looked up into her face. Physical affection came easy to him and it worked every time, probably because he really meant it.

"There. Better?"

She blushed a little and then nodded.

"Good. And don´t forget, I am _not _your 'master'. We´re _friends_, okay?"

"Friends…" she whispered, apparently still not quite able to believe it, but trying. After all, someone taking a blow of cursed magic for you was quite the convincing argument.

"That´s right." Sonic grinned. The arrow in his chest all but forgotten for the moment at this success in cheering someone up, he picked up on the last thing he remembered from their previous encounter.

"But say, who is actually this King Shahryar character? I think it sounded like he was in trouble."

"King…king Shahryar!" She shouted, the force of the memory hitting her like a a packet of frosting sugar the blood stream of a four-year-old. "The king is the creator of the Arabian Nights and the main character of the story! He mustn´t die! We´ve got to stop Erazor!"

"Allright!" Sonic looked at his suddenly re-energized genie and decided there was nothing he could do about that arrow now anyway. He needed to find out what it was exactly and how those strange rings came into play, too. Maybe the king could help them, if he was so powerful?

"Okay!" He gave Shahra a tumbs-up and dashed away, her form flying beside him.

"With my speed, we´ll just have to make sure we´ll get to him first! Don´t worry, I´m only the fastest thing alive!" he winked, adrenaline flooding his veins as he was nearing the wall of sound, while in the distance one of the stone arcs was rapidly drawing closer, a light reminiscent of a teleporter flickering inside it.

"Yes. And Sonic…"

The hedgehog raised an eyeridge as she didn´t continue and looked at her, only to be met with the first smile that now held no reserves at all.

"…_thank you." _

And then, the light swallowed them whole.

XXX

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sonic had just seen the Arabian desert for the first time and the fact that it was approximately more than a hundred feet underneath him and now coming closer at a good ten metres per second was doing nothing to soften the impression.

"RAAAAAAAAAH_urgh_!"

"Ma…Sonic, are you alright? I really didn´t know the portal would be so high up, all of Erazor´s magic is playing haywire with the coordinates, I´m so sorry, I wish I could…Sonic?"

"Mpf."

Having rapidly floated down, the girl now looked at the two red sneakers (and the two blue leg stumps) protruding from the sand, concerned.

"…can you hear me, legendary hedgehog?"

"Mpf! Mpfff-pfmp-PHMMPF-ING-mpf…!"

What could be seen of the upside-down hero was now wriggling quite furiously (and Shahra wasn´t at all sure whether all of those words were actually appropriate for a hero and if it wasn´t a_ good_ thing they had been muffled.)

"Arrgh! Finally!" The body had now managed to unearth both legs and the hip, which enabled Sonic to stem his two feet against the sand and, with one last jerk, free his head and torso as well.

"Gods, talk about a smashing welcome…" he was standing in the pit he had created himself and was shaking his quills like mad, trying to get rid of all the grains that were in his fur and in his ears.

"I´m sorry…" Shahra looked crushed that she had allowed any harm to come to him even though she had sworn to protect her master.

"Ah, don´t sweat it. I already fell from the Eggcarrier once, it´s not as if this was new to me…this sand here actually seems to be a whole lot softer, it was almost as if a kind of cushion broke my fall. Still didn´t save me from getting rammed straight in, though." he grinned and shook the last of the sand free, dusting himself off, before he took a closer look at his surroundings.

It seemed to be a desert out of a story book alright. Palm trees and bushes were scattered around them, shielding patches of sand from the brilliant sun overhead. They also appeared to be standing in the middle of a field of ruins since debris of former buildings was lying around everywhere; shattered pillars, left-overs of walls, and large, colourfully painted remains of earlier architecture decorated the plains. Here and there were still whole constructions, though, and Sonic was sure that in the background he could also see a few minare…minarott…menare…a few of those famous Arabic towers with the round, knobbly top bits. There.

The palace of the king they were supposed to save wasn´t yet anywhere to be seen, but was probably located somewhere near the mountains flickering in the hot air in the distance.

All in all, the desert seemed to be far from empty and realistic, but rather like a picture directly taken from an adventure novel full of exciting treasure discoveries, oasises filled with exotic fruits and probably so many travellers riding through them that they could have opened up a highway with toll stations.

Sonic was grinning, relishing in the spirit of excitement and explorations this place was positively _reeking_. Never mind any dangers! This was _awesome!  
_

…which still didn´t stop him from yelling as suddenly a hand shot out from the sand and grabbed his ankle.

"YAAAAAAH!"

The hedgehog was screaming his lungs out for the second time that day, vigourously shaking his leg while trying to hop away with the other.

As a result, he fell over. Shahra squeaked. The apparently bodyless appendage gripped tighter.

"_Getitoff-getitoff-getitoffoffoff-"_

Sonic was by now scrambling frantically on the sand, but his fingers couldn't find a grip on the crumbling surface and he only succeeded in shoveling grains behind himself. Something like a growl issued from beneath the sand at that.

"Shahra, help me! I think it´s _hungry_!"

The genie, still trying to save her powers, reacted in the only way possible – rushing forward, she seized Sonic´s hands and a fierce tug of war (with a most unwilling blue, spiky rope) ensued.

"_Master, what shall I do? It´s so strong!"_

_"I don´t know! Hex it or something!"_

The distressed hero had started to kick at the thing on his ankle with his free foot, but it seemed to possess almost unnatural strength – and_ spikes!_

_Wait a minute…_

"Alright, I will try to force it out!" The panicking spirit shouted obeyingly, releasing one of Sonic´s wrists to cast a spell with her other hand.

"_Revelate!"_she shrieked and Sonic had just enough time to see that the hand was actually attached to a red arm as the magic hit both him and his attacker. Before he could utter another word, the air was pressed from his lungs while the pair of them was seized by a powerful invisible grasp that hurled both creatures through the air, ripping out the offender still buried in the sand and attached to Sonic´s leg right along with the hedgehog.

Sonic felt his whole world spinning as he rocketed past Shahra and then everything came to a rather abrupt halt as he skidded through the sand and something hard, yet somehow soft crashed right into him.

Blearily, he blinked, and tried to convince his eyes to work in synch again. It didn´t quite work. The blurry thing on top of him shifted slightly.

And the fist connecting with Sonic´s head shortly thereafter didn´t help the hedgehog´s vision problems any.

"YOU!"

"What the-?"

Years of fighting experience came to Sonic´s aid as he pushed the attacker from his torso with his legs and then rolled onto his feet in one swift movement. He fell into a fighting stance - only to be tackled right back to the ground.

"_YOU!"_

"He-hey there, Knuckles…"

The incandescent echidna pinning the prostrate hedgehog to the ground did not return the tentative smile nor the greeting. (He _was_ showing his teeth though…just not in a grinning way.)

"Sorry about the kicking thing, but you just freaked me out there, I-"

"This is all your fault, I´m sure of it!"

"And I´m sorry for landing on top of you, too, but I really couldn´t know-"Sonic was squirming rather uncomfortably in the echidna´s hold now, but the red anteater had proven on more than one occasion that he really was stronger than Sonic, no matter what the hedgehog claimed.

"Oh please, don´t hurt him!"

This finally got Knuckles´ attention and he turned around to the speaker.

"…what the hell?"

"Knux, this is Shahra. Shahra, this is a bastard."

The sight of the spirit seemed to have confused the Guardian enough to loosen his hold so Sonic could wriggle free his hands.

"Look, Knuckles, this is a little bit complicated. Please get off so I can explain?"

Not waiting for an aswer, the hedgehog just shoved the unsettled echidna off and got to his feet himself.

"Shahra, what´s he doing here?"

"Yeah, what am I doing here?" the Guardian repeated the question, still quite miffed, before rounding in on Sonic, "Not that I´m not convinced that I have _you_ to thank for it!" he added, prodding the hedgehog in the chest, who winced. Knuckles´ prods could break _ribs._

It was only then that the echidna noticed something.

"….aaand apparently you´re burning. And not even doing anything about it. And you´ve got a floating girl with no legs with you. In a desert. _Just what the hell is going on here?"_

Sonic shrugged. "Have you ever heard of this book called _Arabian Nights?_"

xxx

"…okay. But that still doesn´t explain how _I_ got here." Knuckles wasn´t a type who´s easily distracted.

"I think it might also be because of the Erazor Djinn," Shahra said carefully. "You see, his carving up of the stories creates a vacuum in the book. And it has to be filled with…something. Characters, for example."

"So you mean, I got _sucked in?" _the Guardian stared at her incredulously.

"Well, I can´t see why anyone would want to read a story about _you_, but yeah." Sonic answered instead of her, grinning (and dodging the following swipe).

"I mean, come on, who would want to read a book like '_The epic story of Knuckles! 127 chapters about a guy sitting on a rock watching another rock!_' anyway?"

"Wrong, Sonic. It´ll be a story about a _murder_."

"Oh please…" Shahra moaned again as she watched the two. This was worse than anything she had imagined!

"Will you stop it!" she waved her hands exasperatedly and both Mobians suddenly felt themselves getting dragged back and away from each other.

"Okay. Whatever," Knuckles huffed, before relaxing somewhat again, and continuing in a more sombre tone, "But about that arrow…is it really able to kill you?"

The sparkle from the hedgehog´s eyes vanished and his gaze hardened for a second. He turned his head and looked at the genie. "I don´t know…is it, Shahra?" His voice didn´t tremble, but Knuckles had been around Sonic long enough to know that the hedgehog was right now trying very hard to keep it light and even.

"Yes, Sonic…I´m sorry, but Erazor is really powerful…" the girl seemed unable to meet their eyes for some reason at this and was averting her face. The echidna briefly thought to see Sonic´s fist clench as this fact was confirmed, but the hedgehog´s gaze didn´t flicker. In an effort to keep things moving and be practical, he cleared his throat and spoke again.

"…so what are we going to do now?"

Sonic turned again and it seemed as if some kind of tension had been released. Things were returning to normalcy again and the light of the sun was making any fires nearly invisible.

"Well, we still have to save the king. I´m kinda hoping he can help us out, he´s supposed to be the creator."

A light went on in Knuckles´ eyes, as if Sonic´s idea had sparked a sudden rush of recollection.

"Help us out of _here_, you mean. Unlike _some_ people, I have a sense of responsibility. I have _duties_ to fulfill, and if it weren´t for _you_, I´d be fulfilling them _right now!_Stop dragging me on adventures, for Chaos´ sake! I live on a friggin floating island, and you _still_ manage to do it!"

"I can´t help it! It´s not like I forced you here! How´d you find that book anyway?"

"…it was in Tails´ house, I think. It lay somewhere on the balcony, completely soaked, so I took it in. After I called you, I thought it might contain a clue as to where the kit had gone, which is why I had a closer look at it. Next thing I know", he growled, "is I'm in this desert, glancing around, and then _you_" – he prodded the flinching hedgehog again – "drop on top of me."

"Hey, don´t pin this on me. You said it yourself, I just got an arrow shot in my chest and some judgement stuff right along with it, so I don´t need you picking on me, too. Are you coming, now?"

"Do I actually have a choice?" the guardian was still testy, evn though his being here was not exactly Sonic´s fault. But he couldn´t help it, being away from Angel Island for too long always made him somewhat stressed.

"Well, you can always stay here and become echidna toast, I guess." Sonic replied, wiping the sweat from his brow. It _was_ rather hot when you were standing still and not running.

"Right." The guardian grumbled, obviously still not too pleased with his current predicament but choosing the best from a lot of bad options. He leveled a burning glare at the horizon, before muttering,

"But I swear, if I come back and the Master Emerald has been so much as_ breathed_ on by either Eggman or that sneaky bat, your Erazor Djinn is going to wish Knuckles the Echidna had never been _born_."

"…hatched, actually."

"Shut it."

_To be continued..._

* * *

Ahh, yes, the marvels of echidna reproduction. Anyone screaming about the red anteater already appearing, though, I can ease your troubled minds (ehh...yes. Suffice to say, don´t read classic literature before writing author´s notes)...because I wouldn´t miss Sinbad for the _world. _Hope you all liked the chapter,

and if you read, please review!:)


	6. Sand Oasis, Here We Come!

**Disclaimer:**If I owned this game, you wouldn´t need 105 friggin silver medals for that goddamn final cut scene.

**Review Replies!**

**BehindtheShadow:**Thanks, it´s those kind of reviews that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! (Which would imply that I´m mouldy, but still…) I´m glad you´re enjoying the fic, thanks for commenting!

**kitvixen:** (chuckles) yeah, that could be right…although I think I´d still prefer an epic saga about the red anteater over say, a book of collected ravings by Shadow about Maria, revenge, and both combined. XD Thanks for the review!

**Luigifan:**Yeah, the dropping-down thing…in the game, Sonic falls from the sky at the beginning of each level and then just races off, so I thought it would be cool if I portrayed that part slightly more…dramatic. XD As for the 'hatched' remark: definite wikipedia reference, you got that right. ;) hmm…still looking for a way to pull that arrow out? You could ask a dentist, those guys usually have some nasty tweezers…apart from that, I hope you´ll enjoy this chappy as well!

**Ri2:**Invisible Pink Unicorn. Sort of like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, just scarier. Pirates VS ninjas…well, I usually support the first group but with all those naruto cosplayers around you never know, do you ? XD thanks for the review!

**Antithesis:**(cool screenname, btw) Allright, glad you can do with humour as well!  There will be some more plot twists to come but I think this chapter also shows that I´m sticking with some things. Please enjoy and thanks for the comment!

**crimson-obsidian-rose:**(blushes) Thanks so much for the compliment! Yes, that arrow thing was probably something Sonic wouldn´t have expected either. Good thing you can´t have the main character die in the first few chapters, huh? I´m glad you like the humour, in here there´ll probably be more than in the 'Life could…' fic, so I´m happy to hear I´ve not been overdoing it so far. Thanks a lot for all this feedback!

**azngirlchibi:**Oh yes, a surprise there´ll be. ;) And yes, those villains…well, I guess someone that pink can´t be expected to be fully reasonable (Amy, anyone?) but maybe it´s because it would be incredibly boring for the bad guys if the hero never showed up. Imagine, you sit there in your Dark Fortress, holding the princess captive, waiting for the shining knight to come to you so you can watch him struggle and fail in your traps…only to find out the idiot is looking for you on the other side of the planet because you didn´t drop any helpful hints. That would be somewhat disheartening. Meanwhile, one update as requested:)

**Ember Rock: **Wow! Really, it´s responses like this that make writing so much fun. Thanks!Yes, the exploring of possible reasons for things and reactions to them is something I like to focus on – which is why I wanted to write a game novelization for some time. Glad you like it, there´s some more to come in this chappie, too. And you´re absolutely right – who can resist some Sonic/Knuckles, Sonic/Shadow clashes? Seriously, their egos were _made_ for each other! Of course, there will be an explanation on the way some time later…I also loved your way of summing up Knux´ reaction, if you put it this way it sounds hilarious. Thanks for all those helpful, detailed comments!

**Rebell:**Hehehe, that´s an awesome explanation for Knuckles various misadventures! XD Better not say that to his face, though…;) And yes, that´s part of the reason for the name. Additionally, the game was originally going to be called 'Sonic Wildfire', which I still think sounds SO much better than Secret Rings, so here´s my way of novelizing the game under it´s first name. There´s some more to it, which will also be revealed…WAY later. Again. Sorry. (drop) Glad you like the way Sonic is acting, writing him is so much fun, he´s completely different from Shadow.  I´m really interested in how you´ll like this chapter, it´s my first time ever trying to write a game level – thanks for all those reviews so far!!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Sand Oasis, Here We Come!**

"…as soon as I´m back home I´ll move Angel Island to the other side of the _planet_, just so you stop dragging me into stuff like this."

"Chill, Knux. This is going to be fun."

"_Chill?_ Listen, hedgehog, we´re in a goddamn _desert_, and you-"

The three of them were currently standing on a sand dune, surveying their surroundings. The sun was already beating down heavily on them, letting Knuckles´s temper flare up even easier than usual.

"So, Shahra, the king´s palace is roughly in that direction?" Sonic asked, shielding his eyes against the light as he pointed across the sands scattered with pieces of buildings.

"Yes. It should be no more than one week´s travel."

"One week, huh? Well, I say it won´t take longer than a day…"

The echidna saw the glint in the hedgehog´s eye and swallowed.

"Are you sure you´ll…"

"Yeah! Let´s go!"

In an instant, Sonic had grabbed the unfortunate guardian by the arm and taken off. Knuckles, who was pretty fast for a mobian, but still way slower than Sonic, found himself unceremoniously being dragged behind, although his pride prevented him from screaming.

The hedgehog, now completely in his element, was tearing through the landscape like an Italian race car seeing for the first time a German highway and deciding to get _busy._

The sand was flying high in the air behind his sneakers. Dodging and weaving, Sonic cut sharp curves and turns as he evaded the debris lining their path, causing the echidna more than one heart attack.

"I´m starting to get dizzy…"

"Look, Knux, there´s _speeding pads_!"

Knuckles dug his heels deep into the sand, effectively flipping a still running Sonic over and headfirst into the ground.

"Stop it. This isn´t working."

"What´d you go and do that for?!" The hedgehog had scrambled into a sitting position and was by now glaring up at the scarlet Guardian.

"I´m telling you that we either go at my pace or not at all. If you continue running like this, you´ll just exhaust yourself in this heat, anyway."

"You´re such a spoil-sport…"

Nevertheless, Sonic thought Knuckles probably had a point. It would do them no good if the 'Legendary Hedgehog' collapsed midway to the palace and afterwards tried to stop Erazor with a legal suit for a heat-stroke.  
Casting a last, longing glance at the speeding pads (and secretly wondering just what kind of author was responsible for these anachronisms anyway) the hero picked himself up and they continued at a slower, if still brisk, pace. The scenery changed a little, and now they could even see…

"Water!" Knuckles exclaimed, pointing at what was apparently a lake in the middle of the endless plains of sand.

Sonic groaned, hydrophobia and thirst battling, before he, too, approached cautiously after the hurrying echidna who was already busy splashing the liquid into his face. Leave it to his fate to arrange for him to find large bodies of that godawful substance even in a friggin _desert._

_Mental Memo: _Strangle that fate person if you get the chance.

"What is it, legendary hedgehog?" Shahra asked, concerned. "Are you feeling ill?"

"No, I´m just not too…fond of water." Sonic answered, shooting a suspicious glance at the sparkling surface as if it was a sort of giant jack-in-a-box just waiting to spring at him.

"In my opinion that stuff should only come in three forms – bottled, in showers, or as ice cubes."

"How about in glasses?"

Shahra smiled as the hedgehog gave her a surprised look at this and waved her hand in a circle – upon which two drinking bowls appeared, both out of thin air.

"Hey, cool." Sonic grinned, snatching the vessels. "That magic sure comes in handy. Thanks, Shahra."

"It is no problem…but I really should save my powers now. Small objects are easy, but I couldn´t even make water or food appear – those, unfortunately are past the boundaries of us ordinary genies"

"Hey, I don´t think _any _of my friends are just ordinary!" the hedgehog winked, flashing her a grin, before zipping down to the water for a drink himself.

The girl watched him, bemused. Her face had suddenly felt hot, but she wasn´t exactly sure that that was just because of the midday sun…

xxx

"That pillar is being manipulated by magic! Look out!" Shahra screamed, as Sonic leapt away just in time to avoid being lifted into the air by a giant stone cylinder suddenly bursting from the sand. They had been travelling for approximately one hour since they had found the water and now, with the midday heat slowly withdrawing, hiding behind the horizon like a tired, curled-up tigress, both hedgehog and echidna had settled into a steady run again. Knuckles, who was by no means as fast as Sonic, had still an amazing stamina and therefore they had been making an incredible time so far.

If it hadn´t been for those sneaky pillars, that is.

"Woah! Watch it!" The azure hero jumped away from yet another stone projectile that shot out of the ground, their angles ever sharper. Both mobians dodged the columns as they came and ran on to make it through this crazed gauntlet. Sonic could feel his leg muscles pumping and his heart beating, as hot life was shooting through his body like mad and he enjoyed every minute of it.

"Hey Knuckles, wanna make this a ra-_argh!_"

His foot had caught on the edge of a fragment of debris and flung him straight onto his belly. Sonic gasped as the air was driven from his lungs – and realized with a jolt that the impact had flung the ring from his finger. "No, Shahra!"

"Sonic!"

The hedgehog´s head snapped round to see the horrified face of Knuckles as he called his name…and then the blue hero´s jaw fell open as he saw the pillar above him, crashing down.

Sonic twisted around, but even then he knew he would not make it.

_No! That can´t be happen-_

An ear-deafening crack sounded through the air. Sonic, noticing the strange lack of three tons of architecture on his (broken) back, cautiously opened an eye.

Revealing Knuckles´ boot.

"Knux…?"

The echidna was panting, rubbing one of his gloved fists with the other hand. As Sonic sat up, he could see the column neatly broken in two, splinters lying all around them.

"Wow, Knuckles…thanks."

He gave the echidna an appreciative smile and then turned around, trying to locate the small golden circlet he had lost. As he found it, the genie appeared immediately.

"Oh master, I am so sorry – If I hadn´t been so apprehensive about saving my powers, all of this wouldn´t have-"

"No Shahra, that´s fine."

"But…"

"If you think there might be a reason that you have to save your magic for, then I trust you. Don´t you worry about me, Knux could take care of that pillar."

"Yeah, but don´t expect me to save your sorry butt everytime you get yourself into trouble with that 'Let´s go have fun on the minefield!'- behaviour of yours. Although in this case," the echidna admitted, "It probably wasn´t your fault. That trap took us both by surprise."

"See?" Sonic asked the girl who was now eyeing the Guardian with something akin to awe as she saw what he had done.

"Besides, we´re in a story book, no? And no story would be complete if there weren´t some last-minute rescues and friends saving each other, if you ask me. Speaking of which…" the hedgehog suddenly pointed to another pair of pillars that seemed dangerously close to squashing the three of them, "…time for some more daring escapes! Hold tight!" With which he grabbed Knuckles and took off, the stone hitting the sand only miliseconds after they had departed.

xxx

The trio came to stop a few hundred yards away, the exercises of the day finally starting to take their toll on the hedgehog as well. Sonic let go of the guardian´s wrist and took a few deep breaths, the hot desert air scalding his throat.

All around them, the field of ruins had given way to more intact-looking buildings that now framed a sort of path around them. Huge, multiple stone arcs were lining their right, faintly blue-patterned, crested rock walls their left side. But the place was still completely devoid of any living creatures, giving the impression of a kind of abandoned sub-urb (which usually came with _less_ sand dunes, but still…).

The hedgehog just hoped the constructions meant that they were getting closer to civilization, and hopefully to the king. Finally in safety, he turned around to Shahra. "Okay. We made it. Why were those colummns attacking us anyway? Architecture shouldn´t do this!"

The girl sighed. "It is, too, because of Erazor. The _stories_ in this book are alive, you know? All stories are. And they _feel_ that someone is hurting them…carving pieces of them away and making them bleed…so they react. They rebell. Like a wounded animal, they will become hostile and can attack their own characters – some of them can even become _insane_." she whispered.

_Mental Note: _If she ever visits you again, keep your Steven King stuff the hell away from her.

"Insane?" Knuckles repeated, frowning. "Listen, girl, I can just about accept the concept of a story being alive, in a sense, but to become insane, they´d have to have an actual _mind-"_

"No, you don´t understand. Just imagine tearing out pages from a book or erasing random sentences from a page – the story won´t make sense any more and appear jumbled or disrupted. That is why there are things like those suddenly erupting pillars, or, or those 'speeding pads'…it´s all horribly mixed up!"

She appeared rather upset about this and was wringing her hands, before Sonic spoke again.

"Hey, don´t worry, Shahra. We´ll bring those stories back for sure. It´ll all be okay."

Deliberately choosing another topic, he then went on, "and I´ve been thinking…do any of you think that after Knuckles, _Tails_ could be here, too?"

The guardian gazed at him for a moment, considering the possibilty, then shrugged. "I don´t know. I suppose it might be possible…but then again, if you and I came to the same place after entering the book, why wasn´t he here as well?"

"…not a clue." Sonic sighed. "He could have just flown off in search for a way back, though. Little guy can do that helicopter thing with his tails, after all."

"Yes, Sonic, but that goes for the real world, too. We have no idea whether he didn´t disappear in _there._ Maybe Eggman was giving trouble and he went to check it out."

"That makes no sense, Knux. He would have contacted me first."

"The kit is able to do some action on his own. Anyway, if that mad scientist was involved, he might not have gone so voluntarily." The guardian muttered darkly, as the hedgehog´s eyes narrowed at his words.

"…maybe. But Robuttnik has been awfully quiet those last two months, so I´m not sure it was him. But maybe Tails _was_ abducted, just not from his workshop but from _here_."

The hedgehog looked at the echidna and Knuckles wasn´t sure whether the fire reflected in his eyes now stemmed just from the flame on his chest.

"If Tails is here and that Erazor guy hurt my li´ll bro in any way, he´s going to _regret_ it." The hedgehog positively snarled that last sentence, in a definitely un-Sonic-like tone of voice. Knuckles mused once more on the dephts hidden in his companion – probably nobody only used to the cheerful, light-hearted joker could imagine what a fierce fighter the azure hero could become.

Never merciless, never cruel…but Sonic must have seen some horrible sights in his earlier life and Knuckles deeply wondered what the hedgehog really was capable of if enraged.

"Hey Shahra!" now the hedgehog´s voice was just as friendly as before, though. The girl, who had seemed ever more uncomfortable as she had listened to their coversation and looked positively horrified at Sonic´s last remark, flinched at her master´s address, as if caught doing something she shouldn´t.

"Yes?"

"What about you? Do you think my little buddy, a two-tailed fox, could be here, too?"

"Uhm…" clearly, this was not a topic the girl was eager to talk about.

"And if he _is_ here, would Erazor do anything to him? He´s just a kit, after all."

At this, the genie looked down, all resistance suddenly gone and replaced by sadness.

"…yes. I´m sorry, master, but I think he would."

Sonic briefly bared his teeth, but then noticed his companion´s change of mood. "Hey Shahra…look up, okay? Don´t call me master, and besides, it´s not as if it was your fault, right?"

The girl tried to smile but it only was a grimace.

"Tails is really quite good at taking care of himself. Don´t worry."

In truth, the hedgehog was a lot more concerned than he let on, but there was nothing to be gained by depressing Shahra further. He still felt there was something the genie wasn´t telling him but he hoped if he just gave her some more time, she would share.

He picked up the pace again and pulled even with Knuckles, who had walked on ahead, but now wasn´t moving further.

"Hey genie-girl, what are those?" the echidna asked as the other two arrived, pointing at a few hovering shapes, approximately 20 metres away.

"Those are…Erazor´s henchmen!" Shahra gasped and Sonic immediately took a closer look.

The…things reminded Sonic almost of the balloons you could usually buy at a fun fair for your small kids, with the exception that any balloon of _this_ sort would probably ensure a trip to a child psychologist afterwards. It had human shape, but barely. There were two arms and a torso of sorts, but any similarity after that stopped short there and took some long deserved vacation in post-traumatic treatment. The arms, ending in claw-like hands with stubby fingers, were nearly as long as the rest of the body and dangled by the side, groping at apparently thin air as if forever itching to strangle something.

The body looked even less humanoid, since it had nearly no defining marks. Sonic would have described it as a cone-like shape, (or possibly the ugliest suppository on Mobius) with the broad part being on top and the lower half ending into a short, thin, wriggling tail approximately three feet above the ground. There appeared to be no neck of any sort but the face (if you could call it that) was rather set directly above the chest, which sported a big, green jewel for some reason. The features were not really fleshed out but actually _painted_ on the thing…and looked as if someone had thought that a halloween pumpkin-like face would look really _good_ on a freakish, five-feet tall monster puppet.

Which it didn´t.

And the colouring was not an improvement either.

"_Purple_ henchmen? What the hell, is that Erazor-dude _gay_ or something?!"

Sonic stared at the things, which still hadn´t noticed the trio. The creatures didn´t seem to be all that intelligent either; Two of them were just hovering around aimlessly, looking stupidly from the left to the right and back again, while another pair kept on bumping into each other and flailing. A fifth one one had apparently declared a nearby wall his mortal enemy and was savagely attacking it.

"…is this supposed to be some kind of _joke_?" Knuckles asked, incredulous.

"I´m afraid it isn´t." Shahra answered, sighing.

"Erazor has been creating these spirits from the fabric of the stories he´s been destroying…but they are an incomplete patchwork at best. Though their intelligence is low, they are able to become really dangerous.…but because there never was an author to write them properly, they don´t even have a _soul._ They can only live by consuming other stories, sucking them dry and leaving a trail of terrible destruction in their wake

The genie paused, as she tried to remember what else she knew about the creatures.

"…when they pass over into your world, they can take on almost any shape. I think they are then known as 'Mary-Sues'."

Sonic gave her an what-kind-of-name-is-_that_ stare, but finally settled for:

"They don´t seem to be that dangerous to me…"

"Oh, you´d be surprised." The genie muttered darkly, but then explained: "Some of them have hidden powers. Well, most of them actually. These here are not very developed, though."

Both hedgehog and echidna gave first her, then the creatures a long look. One of them now was apparently buried under rubble since the mortal wall-enemy had decided to be stubborn and collapse.

"Well," Knuckles said, observing the display, "time to get things moving. If they have no soul, then I won´t hesitate to attack them if they´re hostile."

"Alright!," his blue companion agreed, also readily advancing on the creatures, "let´s show these 'Mary-Sues' or whatever what _true_ heroes are all about…"

_To be continued..._

* * *

Seriously, those things are a joke. While writing these descriptions, I was standing still right in front of them in the game, studying their movements and colourings, completely helpless. Good old Eggman´s robots would have shot me at point blank range. You want to know what they did while I was there?

Flailing.

Beware of Erazor´s evil henchmen.


	7. Stories of a Game

**Disclaimer:**If I owned this game, I wouldn´t still be writing disclaimers.

**Ri2:**Good point.;) Well, as for my defence I can say that I´m not exactly _writing_ the messed-up story of Sand Oasis, but rather a fic where that jumbled thing is _included_ in a (hopefully better written) frame story. : ) Sound good? I also wondered whether not-quite-straight Erazor might be responsible for the Invisible Unicorn. XD Thanks for the review!

**Crimson-obsidian-rose:**That would be double-chocolate-chip, thanks so much: ) I´m glad you think the chapter length is okay, I had been worrying that they might be too short. Also, I´m really happy that this chappie got a positive response from you, since it means that it´s readable for non-players, too. Your reviews always matter to me very much, so thanks!

**Luigifan1:** Oh yes, the racecar. Well the twist is that on German highways there is _no_ speed limit whatsoever, so a car from the USA would finally see this wonderful stretch of endless road where it could exercise its full powers without any limits. In America there´s speed limits, so guess the reaction of that racing machine tasting total freedom for the first time. ;) Also, I think Sonic loves rather the _beach_ than the actual ocean. XD That happening with the ring again is a definite possibility, btw. Also, the mental memos (emphasis on 'mental') are here to stay, so don´t worry. Thanks for taking all the trouble with that review: )

**Doran:**Yes, those are nasty little buggers, aren´t they? (blushes) I´m glad you enjoy the story, I hope you like this chapter as well. Thanks for the comment!

**azngirlchibi:** SO true. I could have spin-dashed them into oblivion just for that. If you could spin-dash, that is. Standing still was easy with the help of a heavy book, carefully balanced. XD As for Time Stop and Speed Break – if you want them to be there, they´ll be there. Not quite sure when, but I´ll do my best. : ) Uh, bipolar? XD You caught me again, I wasn´t very happy with that part. Still, I guess I could probably say that Sonic goes through his emotions as fast as he does everything else, no? …no? oh, okay…then it won´t happen again, promise. ;)

**Rebell:**hehehe, your review made me laugh out loud, that´s an ingenious idea: ) You really like Knuckles, huh? XD Glad you like his portrayal in this fic, there´s more to come. I also think it´s a shame that he´s becoming such a wreck of his former self in the games now, they shouldn´t just sell him as comic relief. Well, good thing there´s fanfic, no? ; )

**Ember Rock: **Well, I can assure you that any and all water poor Sonic has to encounter in this fic is purely and solely the fault of the game designers – though how often he´s_dunked_ in there is entirely my doing. ;) German highways – yes, very fun, though fortunately, there´s at least lanes painted on…otherwise you probably couldn´t drive with all the accidents right, left and center. I do hope your SatsR copy is still whole, btw…XD thank you for another detailed review!

**Feniiku**: Yup, gotta love fanfic references – glad you´re enjoying this so far, thx for the comment: )

**D.C.111**: Am I? Or am I not? XD Well, I´m happy that you like this story, too – welcome to the realm of SatsR!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Stories of a Game **

_Last time_…

"Well," Knuckles said, observing their five enemies in front of them, "time to get things moving. If they have no soul, then I won´t hesitate to attack them if they´re hostile."

Sonic stopped in mid-fighting stance. "…Knux, you wouldn´t hesitate to attack a Chao kindergarten if they set foot on your precious island."

The echidna shot the hedgehog a withering glare. "The only kindergarten I ever attacked, Sonic, is _you._"

"It has grown a sense of sarcasm! Amazing!" The glare was countered with an appreciative grin, and the hedgehog was gone.

Sonic leapt from where he stood and curled in mid-air, a deadly blue buzz-saw hitting the purple monster. Without so much as a shriek, the creature vanished, exploding into a cloud of shining light balls that shot away. Sonic landed back on his feet and looked at Knuckles who had just experienced something similar with his opponent – the echidna stood frozen, one gloved fist still outstretched where he had hit the spirit.

"What was that?" the guardian frowned, his eyes searching the sands for any other remains of his enemy, but finding none.

"You shattered its composure." Shahra supplied, once more appearing from the ring around Sonic´s finger, "I told you, they´re patchworks made from fractured remains of stories – and now those bits and pieces of imagination are free to return to their original places. Later in your world, destroying a Mary-Sue like this takes several really scalding reviews, so it´s good we managed it here." She smiled, while hedgehog and echidna exchanged a clueless glance.

"Sonic, what _are_ those Sues she keeps going on about?" Knuckled hissed, his annoyance with the blue joker momentarily overcome by curiosity.

Sonic shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe some rare exotic predator we haven´t encountered yet."

A movement in the distance suddenly caught their eye and the conversation was cut short; Three other spirits had managed to come closer and were apparently about to attack – right after they had decided whether the blue hedgehog or the threatening palmtrees nearby were their actual enemy. Not waiting for them to possibly form a committee first, Sonic jumped, quickly eliminating all three by bouncing from one to the other in the air, not without adding a few graceful backflips, extra spins and an impromptu tap-dance on top of the last one´s head.

Knuckles was not amused.

"Show-off."

"Oh come on, Knux, I know you thought it looked cool."

"For you, every single danger is a game!"

"Yeah, but where´s the fun without that?"

"Without me, you´d already be _dead_, you know that?"

"And_with_ you I would be dying of boredom." Sonic mock sighed.

"Pull yourself together, hedgehog, or I won´t be so helpful next time." The guardian ground out, before striding on ahead, not looking back.

_What has got _his _dreadlocks in a knot, _Sonic thought, but didn´t fight back. He waved for Shahra to follow and the three continued on in silence, passing through an area of shrubs and desert flowers which now seemed to grow more abundantly. Maybe a sign they were getting closer to more inhabitable places?

"Well." Knuckles said finally, as he had walked up a particularly large dune, "Guess we know now why we were walking through a field of ruins."

Glad that his companion seemed to be talking again, Sonic joined him on the top and immediately groaned.

"Not again…"

In front of them was _water._ And it wasn´t the bath tub kind. Not even the term 'Swimming Pool' came close. No. Think Sonic Adventure DX, and it´s the final boss fight with all your rings run out.

See Chaos grin?

"Stop whining, hedgehog, and get up."

"Knuckles, there are freakin _flooded buildings_ out there! The whole plain is close to underwater! And stop calling me 'hedgehog'!" Sonic had sat down, his face in his hands.

"I´ll start calling you by your real name as soon as you start behaving like your real self. Now come on." The echidna replied dryly, before launching himself off the top of the sand dune and gliding over the liquid surface towards the nearest stone walkway that was protruding from out the moist masses.

"My real self is _hydrophobic, _you jackass!" Sonic called after him frustrated, but to no avail. The echidna just continued walking, jumping, climbing and gliding from the various available surfaces, paying no heed to the fuming hedgehog he´d left behind.

"Great. Just great." Sonic muttered, inching towards the wetness and scowling at it as if it had just bubbled some very rude things about the hedgehog´s resemblance to a massage ball.

_Mental Memo_: Next time you go Super, fight the Pacific, not Eggman.

Sonic sighed, accepting the inevitable. Shahra had also appeared and he tried to take comfort in that. "So there was a great flood of sorts and that´s why the buildings are in pieces and why we haven´t met anyone yet?" He asked, in an effort to distract himself from what he was about to do.

"I guess you could say so, Sonic. This here is the story of the Great Migration." The girl replied, floating behind him.

"They saw water and they ran. Smart people." Sonic muttered, but the genie didn´t seem to hear.

"People fled because the sea was coming in a huge tidal wave. This is their abandoned city Sand Oasis."

The hedgehog meanwhile had taken a few steps backward and was now racing towards the edge of the liquid, kicking off at the last possible second. The blue hero couldn´t glide like the Guardian, but as his limbs wanted to flail in panic and his heart was thumping like a dietician on the exit door of a Willy Wonka convention, he hoped, hoped, _hoped_ to anybody listening that his momentum would carry him across. A huge held breath escaped his lungs as his feet finally made contact with the stone ground. Still trembling a little from spent adrenaline, he lowered himself on one knee, waiting for his muscles to calm down.

"You´re...nervous." Shahra stated, looking at him worried.

"Yes." Sonic simply stated, standing up as he thought his legs felt less like two puppies fresh out of the bathtub. _Bad, bad comparison. _

"Are you afraid of water?"

"A little," the hedgehog admitted grudgingly. Truth to tell, that was like saying Robotnik was a 'little' bent on taking over the world, but Sonic hated talking about his fear at all.

"Oh…I´m really sorry that you have to go through this, then…" Shahra bit her lip, wondering whether her magic would probably be enough to just conjure a carpet for the travelling across the plain, but Sonic interrupted her.

"No, that´s okay. Sometimes you have to confront your biggest fear to move forward."

_Mental Memo: _Next time you say something so cheesy, make sure you _don´t_ survive that next jump.

Shahra didn´t seem to mind, though. Instead, she had rather gone suddenly very quiet and now looked at Sonic in an odd way.

The hedgehog, however, was eyeing the large lake before him, inclined buildings with holes in them poking through the surface everywhere, and tried to judge where to make his next jump. Well, one good thing about falling into the water might be that it could perhaps extinguish the flame arrow…

Still wasn´t exactly worth a horrible death by suffocation, though.

Eventually, the azure Mobian went for a speed dash towards the left side and somersaulted through the air towards a house leaning sideways at an awkward angle. Minding the windows, Sonic ran along its side, but before gravity could catch up with him, he pushed hard against the wall again, flipping himself over in mid-air. The manoeuvre resulted in him first landing on a broken pillar and finally safely coming down on another stone walkway.

"Uh, anyway," He continued as if nothing had happened while he searched once more for surfaces to use on his way over the water, "how come there _was_ a tidal wave in the first place?"

(On his own world, the hedgehog knew all about the origins of tsunamis – various egg-shaped causes and/or enraged demi-watergods sprang to mind - but he wasn´t so sure why anyone in this story would have wreaked such destruction. One more thing to blame Erazor for, perhaps?)

"In the neighbour story someone thought it was a good idea to part the sea to let his people escape." Shahra replied, sighing. "It caused some massive destruction in the surrounding chapters."

Sonic gave her a long stare. "Some of the people here have _weird_ ideas."

xxx

The sun had already a slightly reddish tinge and was hanging a little bit lower as he arrived on the other side of the plain where Knuckles was lying underneath a palm tree, smirking at him.

"Done a little bit of water ballet, Mr. Mermaid?" the echidna asked, the mischievious glint in his eyes letting Sonic know that the Guardian hadn´t _quite _forgiven him for the 20 metres drop on top of his head.

"Very funny, Knucklehead. Go guard the Master Emerald somewhere underwater with sharks and leave me alone," Sonic replied uncharacteristically surly and trudged on, his nerves more than frayed after nearly falling into the giant lake during perilous jumps dozens of times.

"Oh yeah? Well _I _suggest you calm down." The echidna quickened his steps to catch up with him, "I just wanted you to acknowledge that this isn´t some kind of joy-ride, but that you can get _hurt._Okay, _Sonic_?"

"Yeah, yeah." Sonic brushed the hand the echidna had laid on his shoulder roughly away, but he only walked a few steps before then stopping and sighing, turning his head.

"Jeez, Knux, you´re starting to sound like the mother I never had," he said, giving the Guardian behind him a lopsided grin.

"Don´t push it, hedgehog, or I´ll be forced to push _you_ back in _there,_" Knuckles replied in mock warning tones, jerking his thumb backwards at the flooded area.

"I´d like to see you try, you wash-out." Sonic shot back, but his eyes were twinkling again and he was punching the echidna playfully in the arm. They were both already quite tired out from the hours of travelling but it was exactly in this state that they could get along. Sonic knew it wouldn´t be long before they were probably at each other´s throats again, but for now he just enjoyed the easy companionship of his crimson friend – just as he would enjoy the next fight whenever it would pop up.

Shahra watched the two, puzzled but intrigued.

_That is…friendship…_

xxx

"Are we there yet?"

"_Sonic_…"

"Okay, okay."

Sonic sighed half an hour later, as they were now wandering through what could already be described as alleys in between tall walls and undamaged buildings with the air of temples or houses of nobles. It still looked deserted, but there were faint traces of people visible – some plants had definitely been arranged and planted there by a thinking hand and Sonic even spotted a pair of high ceramic vases standing in their way, still whole and apparently containing mobian rings, as if their owner had left them here in a great hurry when the tidal wave came.

"You have rings in your world, too?" the hedgehog wondered, standing on his toes to peer into the vessel, feeling the power radiating from the golden objects.

"Not originally, no." Shahra replied, "They started to appear as soon as Erazor had begun to try to open the gate to your world. I think it´s a sign that our two realities are starting to mix."

"…there´s not a chance we could trick that Djinn into believing that these are those 'World Rings', is there?" Sonic mused, eyeing the round power sources. Subconciously, his hand trailed along the ring around his neck, which he had suspected at first of being a power ring too, but which had been prooved to be composed of some other metal. (Very,_very_ unyielding metal, that wouldn´t come off no matter how hard you pulled, as he´d found out.)

"Not really, master, I´m sorry…" Shahra said, smiling slightly and interrupting Sonic´s train of thought. "The World Rings are of seven different colours and they have engravings upon them. He´d know the difference."

"Oh. Okay." Sonic pursed his lips, hopping down from where he had climbed up on the vase and continuing.

"Seven mystical objects of power with different colours? Now just _why_ does this scream 'Chaos Emerald Rip-off' at me?" Knuckles asked caustically, but didn´t pursue the topic further, as they entered into a corridor composed of blue painted stone arcs. He also didn´t pursue the topic further when they came out the other side and suddenly giant spears rained from the sky.

"_What the hell is this?!"_

The trio was now racing madly through the broad alley and the hail of deadly projectiles, trying to avoid the shadows that would indicate where the next one fell.

"I don´t know! They didn´t say anything about hail in the weather forecast!" Sonic called back, grinning, but yelped just a milisecond later as one of the spears nearly clipped his tail.

"One of those things hopefully hits you in the _mouth_." The guardian muttered, but his scowl turned into a mask of shock as he looked on ahead and saw the wall blocking their way, cutting off the only route for escape from the alleyway they were racing through.

"Oh no! It´s a dead end!" Shahra supplied helpfully, adding that special 'headdesk' element every situation of deadly peril needs.

"Maybe I can climb up that wall-!" Knuckles shouted to Sonic ahead of him, who had just realized what was happening, but the blue speedster was back at his side before the echidna could even finish his sentence. Another spear impacted only inches from them.

"No time, Knux! We´ll do this _my_ way!"

"…on second thought I think I´ll rather face the spe-_RAAAH-"_

The scarlet guardian lost a rather large piece of his dignity (and nearly all of his limb) as Sonic had grabbed him firmly on the upper arm and was now racing head on towards the wall, ignoring the echidna´s shocked cry.

"What are you doing, you can´t possible hope to-"

But Sonic was already doing it.

Mobilizing his last reserves.

Racing up the vertical wall.

"It´s against _physics!" _

"Physics are _too slow!" _

"It´s against _logic!" _

"That´s what Eggman said _last_ time, too!"

"It´s against-"

"Look, Knux, I´m _trying_ to save our skins here, so would you _kindly_-"

"WATCH OUT!"

The entire conversation had been taking place in seconds, words all but snatched from the mouths by the wind, but now the dreadful silence of sneaker soles no longer finding purchase in thin air drowned out all other sounds.

_To be continued..._

* * *

I** said I wanted to write a game adaption. Now I´m cured. _God,_ I never knew those levels would be so long! Expect drastic cuts for Dinosaur Valley...or not. Depends on my enjoyment of headaches when I´m trying to write that chapter. XD Still, I hope this is working for you so far and entertaining. Do you like it? Please read and review:-)**


	8. A Shoulder to Lie on

**Disclaimer:** If I owned this game, Shahra would have been floating around you squeaking 'Hey! Sonic, look! Hey! Sonic, _listen_!' every two minutes.

**azngirlchibi:** Thanks! Yeah, the thing about parting water...I think that all famous stories and cultures somehow affect each other, so the idea of that crept up. Sonic would probably approve if someone parted the water for _him,_ I think. XD

**Ri2**: Rings…hmm, as far I´m concerned I think they´re basically the omnipresent energy of chaos that´s the lifeforce of everything, and when it manifests itself physically, that energy takes the form of rings that you can absorb and that give you strength…don´t ask me why they go 'bing', though. XD And don´t let me hear you say that the rings are emerald rip-offs! When it comes to the emeralds, you have to collect seven of them to become your super form. When it comes to rings you have to…on second thought, nevermind. XD Thanks for the review!

**crimson-obsidian-rose**: Glad you liked the chappie: ) I haven´t yet written much of Knuckles before, so this is very interesting – I´m happy I´m apparently not doing such a bad job. The lack of characters is annyoing, yes. I´m already taking liberties with Knux being here (actually, you play all of the levels alone) but no worries, two chapters or so from now on, there´s going to be some more familiar faces – or, if you want to, I could always take one of those purple Mary Sues, transform it and introduce you to Taranea, the Winged Hedgecat or something!…(shudders). Nope. Not now, not ever. Thanks a lot for commenting and giving me your opinion on everything: )

**Luigifan1: ** Hi there! Heh, your reviews are starting to become longer than my chappie - not that I´d mind, of course, I like them.:) Glad that you liked the bantering between Sonic and Knux - it´s my favourite part of it all. And Sonic fearless? Naaah, a fearless hero would be boring, right? I guess there are a few things true blue is afraid of - water, or failing to protect someone he loves.Just a good thing he´s a carefree and upbeat guy most of all, though, no? Thanks for your comments!

**Rebell: **Heheheh, glad you liked that part. :) About the adapting of the game - well, I guess I´m learning and hopefully improving. I´m already thinking about how to write the next level, there are a few mistakes I already know I´ll have to avoid. And wow, I´d be so excited if you decided to write a sonic game adaption, I´d love to read it:) I also just got the Sonic Gems collection...is that the one you have, too? Make sure that the Tails doll doesn´t come for you, then ;)...thanks a lot for your encouraging review!

* * *

**Chapter 8: A Shoulder To Lie On**

It is at the apex of a jump when the body is nearly standing still. It is then when every sound quietens, the wind ceases and the world stops turning for a fraction of a second stolen from time. It was then when two Mobians realized that a certain hedgehog had sped up the wall so fast that he had run all the way to the top and over.

The world…turned.

"Way to go, Sonic! We´re falling!"

"I _know!"_

The pair, the blue hedgehog still grabbing the Guardian by the arm, were now rapidly moving downwards and had nearly reached the top of the wall again. At their current course, they´d fall down the very way they´d come up and then be impaled by the field of upside down spears beneath them.

"I can´t glide us both! Get that genie to save us! NOW!" Knuckles bellowed.

"No wait, I´ve got an idea!"

_Mental Memo:_ As soon as we´re back, that hedgehog will _suffer._

You can run up walls. This is a fact. Well-trained humans can manage a couple of metres and for Sonic the Hedgehog at full speed even higher obstacles are no problem. But what very few people know is that to run walls down without falling off you have to go even _faster._

Outrun the speed of freefall…

Red sneakers connected with blue-lined sandstone. Green eyes narrowed. Violet ones widened in shock as their owner realized what the cerulean hedgehog was up to. And in a swirl of coulours the pair was running down the wall again, executing a perfect 90 degree turn and passing the a row of buildings underneath them that had been lining the right side of the now spear-dotted alley.

On the other side…was space. Sonic jumped off when they were only a few metres from the ground and shot along the sand again, trying to lose the incredible momentum he had acquired during the stunt. Knuckles was still dangling in the air behind him,consisting mostly of flaring dreadlocks, gravity trauma and thoughts of revenge.

They finally stumbled to a halt in front of another mosque, both collapsing in a heap in the shade of the entrance. Knuckles fell on top of Sonic and it said something for their state that neither even complained. Shahra emerged from her ring, looking just as pale as the echidna.

"Wh-what has been happening? Suddenly there was this sensation of _movement – _and then…I didn´t even know which side was up or down anymore…"

"Join the club," the Guardian groaned, rolling off the spiked back he had been lying on. If he hadn´t been feeling like opening up his belly and rearranging his innards into the proper positions again, Knuckles would have felt sorry for the girl. Not everybody was used to being manhandled by the world´s Fastest Thing Alive That Hadn´t Gotten Enough Rollercoaster Action As A Kid.

He half-heartedly nudged Sonic´s ribs with his foot. The hedgehog made an instinctive feeble atttempt to curl up (which only meant that he now lay on his back), but didn´t open his eyes.

"Sonic?"

The echidna edged closer, kneeling next to the prone form while carefully keeping away from the flame. Knuckles narrowed his eyes as he studied the face of his self-declared friend. Sonic´s chest was rising and sinking weakly, but steadily.

"Hey!"

He tried again, this time shaking the hedgehog by the shoulder, but when he still didn´t get any reaction, but instead noticed the cramped muscles underneath the skin and the pearls of sweat on the blue forehead, Knuckles knew. The Guardian briefly calculated just how much longer this journey would take with an unconscious would-be stunt-hog on his shoulder. He came to a conclusion.

"I hate you sooo much right now, Sonic…"

"Oh no, he´s _hurt!"_ Shahra exclaimed, already floating down concerned.

The echidna didn´t look up. "No, he isn´t, just knocked himself out cold from exhaustion. _Again_," he couldn´t resist adding, before continuing: "But even if he was, he´s not going to get better if you just float there and stare at him teary-eyed."

His voice didn´t contain any malice, but sounded rather matter-of-fact, while he was simultaneously checking the unconscious hedgehog´s pulse. When it came to matters like this, Knuckles the Blunt possessed all the efficiency of a battering ram in a siege situation…and almost as much people skills.

Ignoring the spirit, who had for some reason gone very quiet at that last remark, the Guardian now bent over Sonic once more, this time examining the flame still flickering on the hedgehog´s ribcage with inquisitiveness. The fire now seemed a lot more subdued. Tamer. At the moment, it appeared almost to be flickering in a rhythm similiar to the one of the blue hero´s slowly beating heart.

Hadn´t it blazed like mad when Sonic was running up the wall? Knuckles couldn´t quite remember (he usually tried to repress any memories of such particular episodes with Sonic) but for a second he couldn´t help but entertain the thought that the fire almost seemed to _align_ itself with the hedgehog, becoming part of him…

He shook his head, trying not to let the heat get to him.

Curiously, he took off one of his thick gloves, and reached out with one finger to touch the tip of the flame above Sonic´s skin. The echidna raised one eyeridge as he encountered warmth but wasn´t burned, even when he immersed his whole hand after a few seconds. Magical fire indeed…

Wait, wasn´t there a kind of a more solid, yet invisible core?

_Almost like the shaft of this 'flame arrow'_. Knuckles thought and frowned, before reaching down, gripping and pulling at the thing with calculated force.

The scream of a burned and subsequently incandescent echidna could be heard across the entire desert.

Still, Knuckles´ tolerance for pain was high, so after the initial shock, he merely swore under his breath and spat on the scalded skin before surveying the damage on Sonic. It fortunately turned out to be nothing more than singed fur and some red, raised skin in places.

"I´m…I´m sorry…I should have told you before, it´s…it´s not good if you try to remove the arrow, I´m…I´m sorry I´m so _useless_…" All this was choked out in between sobs.

Knuckles looked up at Shahra, whose face was stained with violet tears that dissolved into coloured smoke as soon as they dropped down. Her copper hair was frayed and hung over her forehead as she floated nearly bent double in mid-air, the heels of her hands pressed over her eyes while crying.

"_I´m…I´m sorry…"_

Knuckles closed his eyes. Being the responsible one sucked _so_ bad at times.

Not that he´d ever tell that Sonic, of course.

"Saying that you´re sorry won´t help anything."

The girl flinched as if struck and even cowered, as though the echidna had really just raised his hand to hurt her. Knuckles quirked an eyebrow, sensing that something was obviously wrong here. He stood, both his arms hanging at his sides, and forced himself to radiate calm.

"Relax…Shahra. I am not going to do anything to you. All I´m saying is that if you want to save this world, then you have to actually _do_ something. Sonic is risking his life here for you. You just got a first-hand demonstration that this is _serious_, despite all this joker´s hare-brained sayings otherwise. So, if you really want to help him, you have to commit yourself to this one hundred percent, understood? If you´re only one tiny bit wavering about your role in all of this, there will be _no_ going any further because we could all die otherwise. Do you get this?"

No fury. No comfort either. But a question.

The genie stared at him. Her sobs had quieted down to sniffles and her eyes were swollen, but Knuckles could sense that there were a lot of confused thoughts and emotions frantically rushing through her head, trying to get organized.

_He…he took that arrow for me…and Erazor has…he would have…_

Something seemed to go _click_ behind those wide eyes. Shahra, still not breaking eye contact with the echidna´s blazing violet, questioning gaze, finally nodded.

"Good. Here, you can wipe your face with this." Knuckles added in a somewhat softer tone, having reached into his glove and extracted some bandages and tissues. He gave the latter to the girl, while wrapping some of the dressings first around his own hand before slipping his glove back on.

"You carry first-aid material around with you?" Shahra asked, her voice already a lot more steady.

"Yes. I am a Guardian living on a flying island, so I have to be prepared."

"Is that…why you are so strong? Because you´re protecting something?"

"Echidnas are naturally strong," Knuckles replied, although he actually wasn´t quite sure of this, being the last one of his race. "But yes. I had to become strong. You´ll have to as well if you want to continue."

She gave him a tiny smile, the first she had dared in the presence of the intimidating echidna.

"I promise I will."

"Good." Knuckles simply repeated, before bending down to Sonic again. "So, if I don´t actively try to remove the arrow, the flame won´t hurt me?"

"That is correct. Do you want to-?"

She was cut off, however, when the Guardian just grunted and lifted the limp body of the blue hedgehog onto his shoulder. At least Sonic was nearly purely muscle, and rather more slender than him, so he wasn´t that much of a burden. Also, given the echidna´s strength, it was safe to say that Knuckles wouldn´t feel the strain any time soon. Shifting the blue hero, so the gold ring around Sonic´s neck wouldn´t press into his flesh, Knuckles stood up.

"Right. We´re leaving. You lead the way."

She nodded, eagerly floating ahead, glad that she was finally able to do something. The girl glanced back once more at the echidna striding along behind her, Sonic lying unconscious on his shoulder, seeming for the first time strangely weak and helpless. The fiery red sunlight of the late afternoon reflected in her eyes and her face set.

_I swear I will become strong. I won´t let you down anymore. I will protect you…my master._

xxx

They walked on, the sun sinking as late afternoon became later still, all the while retaining a good part of the brightness of a grade-A sunshine day. Knuckles for his part was glad that the intense heat was lessening, but the echidna knew enough about deserts to worry about the arctic temperatures that would come when finally night fell and whether they would be able to find shelter when it happened. Somehow he doubted that Sonic would serve as a campfire very well.

By now the Guardian was still sweating, though, and he adjusted his load once more, to prevent his shoulder muscles from cramping. The flame on the hedgehog´s chest slid over Knuckles´ collarbone as a barely noticeable patch of warmth – both their bodies were at the moment radiating nearly as much heat as the magical arrow.

Trudging through the miles of sand and light, the scarlet echidna also wondered whether they shouldn´t start looking for something to eat soon. He was not nearly as big a glutton as Sonic (Knuckles privately thought that without the hedgehog as customer several small fast-food chains would already have closed down) but even the enduring Guardian knew that him fantasizing about chewing on the bright blue ear attached to the head dangling from his shoulder was_ not_ a good sign.

And he was losing so much water sweating, too – if only it wasn´t so damn _hot!_

Knuckles wiped his brow for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day and licked over his dry lips.

He was just glad that for the first part of the journey there had actually been water – Shahra had prooved pretty clever when she magicked a pouch-like leather flask for him, in which he had been able to carry some of the liquid from another small oasis they had passed. It had hung from a leather belt she had also created, but now both items were gone, vanishing into thin air as soon as they weren´t needed any longer.

The genie seemed to notice his predicament, for she gave him a sympathetic smile and pointed to the entrance of another long-stretched building ahead, just down the sand dune they were currently standing on.

"We can go through there. I think it would be a shortcut!"

The echidna nodded. He had to admit, the girl _had_ been making herself useful.

And even if he wasn´t quite ready to admit it yet – Knuckles had actually rather enjoyed her company for those last two two hours while Sonic had been unconscious. After enduring the hedgehog, his attitude, and apparently eternal sugar high for the entire day, talking to somebody who was polite, quiet, friendly in a reserved way and most of all _not_ hell-bent on breaking the record for 'most heart-attacks caused in a day!' was nice for a change.

They were about to enter into a church-like edifice, which already sported several holes in the stone floor but otherwise was quite intact. The ceiling disappeared into the high shadows above, giving the whole place a gothic atmosphere, if it hadn´t been for the sky blue patterns painted on the walls and the small rays of light filtering in. Nevertheless, Knuckles was looking forward to be out of the sun. Shahra was now floating next to him, and appeared to know what he was thinking.

"It should be cooler inside!"

Which was when a giant horizontal jet of flame suddenly roared into existence, only inches from Knuckles´ face.

_Mental Memo: _Ask that girl whether she´s _trying_ to be funny, or just really, really likes echidna flambé.

Seeing the shocked look on the genie´s face, though, Knuckles just sighed, smashed the nozzle in the wall that was spurting the ray of fire with one casual swipe and commented dryly: "Doesn´t_ quite_ look like it."

"Oh no…Erazor has been here, too…I´m starting to wonder whether _all_ stories we´ll encounter will be that corrupted." Shahra was giving the remains a last worried look as she followed the echidna. He was by now carefully sidestepping two more flame-jet openings embedded in the floor and destroyed another pair set in a stone arcway leading into a second room.

"Well, if you keep hanging around with _this_ guy," – Knuckles jerked his head to indicate the still unconscious hedgehog on his shoulder – "then I shouldn´t wonder. Sonic usually attracts bad luck and dangerous situations like Amy Rose restraining orders."

"Amy…Rose?" the genie´s voice suddenly sounded very different than the previous times – guarded, and carefully neutral.

"Yes. Sonic´s wannabe girlfriend. Pink hedgehog, wears a red dress. When you´re lying on the floor and have a footprint on your face because you´ve stood in between her and something vaguely blue and spiky, you know it´s the one."

"His girlfriend." Shahra´s tone was strangely hollow.

Knuckles was just about to point out that there was a very fine line between 'devoted girlfriend' and, say, 'lunatic stalker' (and that in his opinion Amy had not only _crossed_ it, but rather _charged_ at the thing with a battalion of warrior elephants and was now rapidly conquering the land beyond), but was silenced as they stepped out into the sun again and he viewed their new surroundings.

It wasn´t that he actually _hated_ Amy, but he nevertheless felt a strong dislike. In his opinion she was a) squealy, b) hyperactive and c) attracted to shiny things (which in _his_ head set off every possible alarm bell by default). Most of all, she felt the urge to spend time with Sonic, what for the Guardian was a symptom of raving madness in itself.

And by the looks of what he was now seeing, 'spending time with Sonic' now seemed just about to be written over the pages of his mental calendar for the rest of the week and probably the next few months as well, including the holidays. And the last entry in this calendar appeared to be 'Dying of dehydration', too.

For in front of him, the desert stretched out for _miles_. No end in sight. Just infinite, dead air, eternally lying like a stale, hot blanket over a never-changing sea of sand, dunes rolling like waves from here to the horizon and after that, probably on to the next.

And those vultures sure weren´t seagulls.

Knuckles fought against his nearly buckling knees. Shahra, recognizing the subtle signs of utter despair in the echidna´s face, quickly intervened.

"Oh don´t worry, Guardian! We don´t have to go through there, we´re heading _this_ way," she said, pointing to her left.

Knuckles, still staring at the vast expanses of desert before him, visibly relaxed at this and closed his eyes in relief for a second. Then, re-adjusting Sonic´s position on his shoulder slightly, he turned to look into the direction Shahra had indicated.

Which was when his gaze fell on the tallest, longest and most _massive-_looking wall he had ever seen.

Knuckles had to remind himself that screaming your head off at the only guide you have when you´re lost in a foreign land is _not_ the smartest thing to do.

"Shahra," he began instead instead, "_how on Mobius are we supposed to get around this thing_? I certainly can´t climb over it with this load on my back, judging by the length of it, it would take _days_ to walk around it, and your magical powers haven´t helped us_ once_ so far."

The genie looked down. "I know…" she said, "it´s just because I derive my magic usually from the stories, like most genies, but since Erazor has been carving them up so much, I am not as strong as I used to be…", she then brightened up considerably. "But there´s no need for it either! The only thing we actually have to do is get up to about one third of its height. Then there´s a ledge we can shuffle along on, before we get to a door leading through to the other side. This wall was once used as a defence, you see. Up above there stood the guards."

"Didn´t help much against a tidal wave, did it?" Knuckles asked succinctly.

_Humans_, he thought. _Always preparing for war, never preparing for nature._

The echidna surveyed the terrain in front of the wall, wondering what the best of course of action in this situation might be. Tunneling had occurred to him, of course, but he suspended that plan for emergency use only. This wasn´t earth, but sand underneath his boots and being trapped underground with a passed-out hedgehog while the tunnel was collapsing on their heads was currently very low on his 'Things I´m Missing in my Life' list.

And that only left climbing, if they wanted to get to the Palace before nightfall…

He craned his head back and looked up to the thin ledge, brow creasing.

"Hmm…if you´re still wondering how to get up there, there´s also two speeding pads that could give you some push over here…" the genie commented from behind him, indicating another pair of the curious devices that looked like reversed treadmills.

"Yeah, I too am glad that Sonic´s right now unconscious," Knuckles replied, not taking his eyes off the wall.

"Hey, did someone just say 'speeding pads'?" A curious voice inquired not inches from his head.

There was the sound of 77 pounds of hedgehog hitting the sand.

_"How long have you been awake?!"_

"Not long. Maybe five minutes or so. But it was nice to be carried, so I just didn´t say anything. Thanks a lot again, by the way." Sonic climbed to his feet cheerfully, staggering just slightly as he tried to regain his balance.

"Whoo, dizzyness…but this is definitely not my first time passing out, so I guess my brain is getting used to it." The hedgehog winked at the Guardian, who was by now trying to not only ignite Sonic´s chest, but the entire hedgehog instead with his glares.

"I should have left you there in the desert to die," Knuckles grumbled.

"Aww, come on Mr. Grinch, you´d never do that to me, your bestest hedgehog buddy."

"Whatever," the echidna pushed past Sonic, too irritated to continue any conversation like this.

"How long was I out, anyway?" the other Mobian asked, rubbing some feeling back into the places where Knuckles´ shoulder had left its imprint on his skin.

"You have been unconscious for more than two hours. Now we have to get up this wall," the Guardian replied, "and since you seem to be restored to your usual health by now, I won´t have to carry you and this godforsaken journey can actually _proceed._" He raised an eye ridge. "I trust you can climb well enough?"

"Knuckles, Knuckles, Knuckles." Sonic sighed, shaking his head and almost laying an arm around the echidna´s shoulders before the_ try-it-and-you-lose-it_ expression of the Guardian stopped him, "how many times do I have to explain it you? Hedgehogs travel with _style_."

"And afterwards on stretchers," the echidna muttered, but the azure hero didn´t seem to hear.

"…so the only way I´m getting there is _running_."

Knuckles almost face-palmed. "Are you _insane_?! The _last_ time you tried this, I had to carry you afterwards! And it was _just two hours ago_!"

Sonic grinned. "Sure, but this time there´s speeding pads, so it won´t be nearly as exhausting. Look!"

Without waiting for a reply, the hedgehog dashed off towards one of the accelerators embedded in the floor and was immediately shot forwards. To Knuckles´ surprise, Sonic had actually been right – with the additional burst of speed, the blue Mobian raced up the wall as easily as if he hadn´t been knocked out cold only a few minutes ago, but instead just digested a breakfast composed entirely of caffeine, sugar, and high-voltage batteries.

Within seconds, Sonic had reached the ledge, grabbed it with one hand in passing and swung himself above it in a semi-circle, finally coming to sit on it, before he waved down to his crimson companion.

"See? No problem! Do you want me to come get you?"

_Over my dead body_, Knuckles thought, walking over to the wall to begin the climb.

Obviously getting the message, the blue hedgehog called down again, grinning:

"Okay, but you should better hurry, because, you know, we don´t have all day!"

Knuckles rammed his spikes into the first of the many stones on the way up, imagining with a certain satisfaction that they all bore a striking resemblance to a certain hedgehog he knew.

xxx

"There you are." Sonic grinned as Knuckles finally dragged himself over the rough surface of the ledge and knelt beside him. "Took you long enough." The hedgehog added, even if his smirk made clear that he was only teasing. In fact, Sonic was actually impressed. Heavens knew that _his_ upper body strength probably wouldn´t have been enough to pull himself all the way up here using only his arms.

Knuckles didn´t reply at first. The echidna had lowered his head and was taking a few deep breaths, trying to suppress the trembling in his shoulders in front of Sonic while his muscles screamed at him for letting his blood sugar run so low.

"Hey, you okay?" Sonic´s voice had now lost its jocularity and the hedgehog bent towards his companion, concerned.

"Yeah, I´m allright. Let´s keep going before the sun disappears completely." Knuckles pushed himself to his feet against the protests of his whole body.

"If you say so…" The hedgehog replied hesitantly, but didn´t argue. The sun was indeed setting by now, the flame-red light setting the desert ablaze and reminding Sonic fiercely of his own predicament.

The ledge was not wide enough to comfortably walk forwards, so both hedgehog and echidna proceeded with a kind of sideways shuffle, their backs pressed against the wall. Sonic´s razor-sharp spines actually left long, horizontal scratches in the sand stone, which Shahra regarded with amazement. After what seemed like another eternity, they finally reached the hole leading to the other side the genie had told them about. Knuckles, being the leader of their little trio went through first. His eyes widened.

"What…is this?"

Sonic came up after him, the space underneath the door arc the only place where both Mobians could stand next to each other. The wall was approximately two metres thick and they had paused in this little tunnel. On the other side a ledge of the same sort continued along as well, but that wasn´t what the eyes of the two were currently focused on.

Beneath the ledge on the other side was an abyss. An abyss filled with a roaring river of sand.

The grains danced on top of each other, every single one trying to surpass its companions in speed and force. It was almost fifteen feet in diametre and was framed by the wall they were currently standing on and another long, tall structure that rose across the gap in front of them. The other wall actually had an opening farther up where the sand came pouring out of, almost like a strange sort of watergate in an embankment dam. The roar was loud, but not as deafening as Sonic would have expected – in fact, it almost sounded more like a continuous hiss, or even…mingled whisperings…

"Shahra?" He asked, his hand grasping the stone to his left for support as his body started to sway slightly, hypnotized by the mesmerizing sight of the liquid quicksand.

The genie appeared from the ring around his finger.

"Yes? You have to go along that way," she said, pointing down the ledge on the other side of their wall in the same direction the sand was flowing.

"That river…"

"It´s an architectural masterpiece which was built by many djinn for their current master, the ruler. The sand flows by magic." The answer came, sounding almost automatic.

"Does it?" Sonic was still fascinated. For some odd reason, sand moving like water didn´t terrify him like the liquid itself.

"Yes. A lot of the djinn also lost their lives in the process when they had to use up all of their magic to make it work." Sadness at this fact, but also resignation.

The hedgehog quirked an eye ridge. "They _died_ working for that ruler?"

"The world is not kind to us magic creatures." A hard edge had entered her tone now, which surprised Sonic. It was the first time he had noticed anything like resentment in the genie. Not to mean that he didn´t feel with her completely.

"…If I had been the ruler, I wouldn´t have done that. And if we ever meet that guy, I´ll introduce him to my spines," he said, sounding slightly helpless even to himself. He could fight against Eggman and free his prisoners anytime, but even Sonic the Hedgehog wasn´t able to do anything when crimes already lay in the past…

But it seemed to have worked. Shahra was already giving him a tiny smile. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"Anytime, Shahra."

"That ruler is long dead by now. But they say that the souls of the djinns are still here, you know? Each one a tiny grain of sand, and that you can hear them hissing and whispering, cursing their former master…"

Sonic swallowed. The image of a 'river of souls' made for a great ghost story, sure, but when you yourself were in a story book, you could really do without that stuff.

_'The world is not kind to us magic creatures…'_

Shahra´s words as well as her tone still lingered in his mind at that. He briefly mused whether the genie might also have had an unkind master, long ago. Or even…_Erazor_? But then he shook his head.

_Naaah. That crazed razor dude more likely would have devoured anyone insane enough to try to control him alive,_ Sonic thought, trying to stifle a yawn. It was really time to find a place to settle down for the night and to judge from the way Knuckles was leaning heavily on the wall a few feet behind them, the echidna was at his limits, too.

"Knux? Let´s keep going."

xxx

They were now shuffling along on the other side of the wall, each one not trying to look down. Shahra had told them there would be a stairway leading downwards soon, but that they should watch out for any traps and brittle ground. Sonic, however, had trouble enough to keep his eyes open. Knuckles edging along in front of him seemed to be no better off. Suddenly, though, Sonic saw the glint of metal and instinct took over.

"KNUX!"

"What the-?!"

Before the Guardian could say much more, Sonic had already tackled him and they were now both falling off the ledge sideways, tumbling down to be swallowed by the hungrily whispering sands beneath. Knuckles twisted in Sonic´s grip and punched. His spikes buried themselves deep in the stone of the wall and brought them to a stop inches from the roaring masses.

"What the hell was that, hedgehog?!" Knuckles wheezed, feeling his arms in serious danger of letting them both go.

"Spikes in the wall. In holes. They suddenly came out. Almost impaled you," Sonic replied, his voice somewhat muffled as his face was pressed into the echidna´s back where he was clinging to for dear life.

Knuckles looked up. Above them where he had just been standing now protruded indeed metal pricks, almost a foot long. Some of them were glinting in the last of the sunlight, others stained with a dark substance. Sonic had just saved his life.

But what would they do now? In his state, the Guardian could barely hold onto the wall, much less climb it back up with Sonic in tow.

"…can I help?" Shahra had appeared again.

Knuckles grunted in what he hoped was an affirmative manner. The girl´s reaction time left much to be desired but right now he would take what he could get.

"Yes. Get us back up there!" He managed to squeeze through clenched teeth. As soon as he had uttered the words, he felt the sensation of a forcefield enveloping him again and he started to be slowly levitated upwards, Sonic floating next to him. Shahra´s expression was strained and she seemed to be concentrating very hard, even flickering at times, but eventually they were on the ledge again. The metal spikes had by now already retreated.

_Sonic saved my life. This journey has reached a new all-time low._

Knuckles scowled. If he started to overlook traps like that and even Sonic´s quick reflexes were starting to slow, this was getting_ really_ bad. As soon as they were down they would have to rest and the sooner, the better. Sonic seemed to have realized that, too.

"Okay. But now let me go in front." The blue hedgehog said, standing up and continuing their way. "Shahra´s too exhausted to save us a second time."

Knuckles nodded, moving along behind him. "Right. Just don´t _you_ overlook anything."

Sonic gave a tired smirk. "No worries, Knucklehead. There is nothing that could surprise _this_ hedgehog."

Which was exactly when he trod on that _special_ stone and the part of the wall they were standing on broke away with them on top.

xxx

"IDONTWANNADIIIIIETHISISYOUUUURFAUULTMAKEITSTOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

Both Mobians were screaming again, Sonic´s baritone contrasting nicely with Knuckles´ bass. The echidna had dug all four of his knuclaws into the stone piece that was right now surfing like a champagne bottle cork on the sand currents, while the hedgehog had just settled for wrapping all of his arms and legs around Knuckles instead.

The stone block was knocking against the walls on the left and right, each contact nearly sending them flying into the cursed river splashing its grains all over the pair. Each breath, each opening of the eyes meant more of the granules invading their bodies, so the screaming rapidly turned into coughing and sputtering. Two hearts were trying to burst from their bodies as glands went into overdrive to produce adrenaline after so much of it had been spent already.

It was an ochre blender.

It was a nightmare.

It was body surfing on a tsunami of blades.

And then it was over.

On their left, the wall suddenly ended and another wave of sand took that as a cue to surge against their piece of rock, catapulting it out of the river and throwing them onto the shore. The make-shift surfboard landed hard and both its passengers were knocked onto the ground, sprawling.

The nice, wonderful, _solid_ ground.

Sonic lay there, panting. Just loving the grass he could feel through his gloves.

_Wait a moment…grass ?!_

He opened his eyes, tear fluid coming to his aid to rinse out the last grains of sand. Blinking, he could see they were really lying on a lawn…it was a garden!

The hedgehog propped himself up on one elbow and reached out to shake the echidna lying in front of him awake.

"Knux! We´ve made it! Look!"

His crimson companion slowly opened his eyes.

"Wha…?"

"There!" Sonic pointed to something behind him and Knuckles shifted himself to turn around. Both hedgehog and echidna regarded the breathtaking sight of the Palace, bathed in the last of the evening light.

_To be continued..._

* * *

(keels over backwards) The level is finished. Running through it sure was faster than writing this thing...Still, I hope this chappie wasn´t too long. originally I wanted to cut it off somewhere earlier, but then I didn´t like the idea of spending three entire chapters in Sand Oasis. Did you like it? Please comment and review:)

**Next Up: Sight the King! **- **what the heck is _he_ doing here?! **


	9. Sight the King!

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, Cream the Rabbit would not be able to beat Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform in a party game based on _strength_. There's something just wrong about that.

_Side note:_ Believe it or not, there _is_ going to be action in this chapter – and plot development, too!

**some random reviewer: **Thanks! Knux doesn´t get enough love. Glad you like the arguments and the little references, they´re the most fun stuff to write:)

**Ri2: **Ahhh...who knows what´s going on in the hearts of girls? Then again, you could be on to something, there. ;) And yeah, I believe that life as a genie must pretty much suck...after all, we all know how nice most humans are to slaves, right? Poor Shahra...but thanks for your comment:-)

**crimson-obsidian-rose: ** Thanks for pointing it out, has been corrected! It´s next to impossible to discover all the mistakes by yourself... . Heh, yeah, Knux and Sonic sure are tough. I´m glad I don´t have to cross that desert myself...(blushes) Thanks so much for the kind review, I´m glad you like the fic!

**D.C.111: **Sonic, Knuckles and the champagne bottle cork...I´m sensing an epic right here. XD Glad you liked that one! As for the time thing, that was yet another slip-up of mine - has been corrected now. Thanks! Okay, this chappie´s gonna be a bit quiter at the beginning so I´ll be interested to see what you think of this:-)

**JudasFm: **Allright, here´s for the little things I forgot: 'Ingle' I found as a synonym for 'fireplace' in my dictionary. I think there was something about fire somewhere else, so I was searching for another word... English be no first language here, I usually never know whether a word is often used or a rare exotic find. Oh, and as for Shadow: You´ll just have to read and find out...:D

**azngirlchibi: **No worries, I never planned on describing all the missions (otherwise I´d be typing this fic still when I was already ninety! XD) No, there´ll only be the ones important for the story...and maybe the odd side reference. ;) Urgh, yes, the spears...I admit, I forgot. But hey, Sonic and Knux really deserved a break there, right? (lousy excuse) Hope you like the new summary, too, I had Asher Tye type it for me... thanks a lot for the review!

**Luigifan1: **(carefully edges away from Erazor) that doesn´t look to good in the reviews over there...(shudders) heh, glad you liked the chapter, though. :) Ali Baba won´t be far away, now...though for this chappie, there´s someone different planned. ;) I hope you find this one entertaining as well, even though the pacing is a little different. Always interested in your opinion and thanks for all those comments!

**Ember Rock: **Hmm, I hope this chappie will be up your alley...please tell me whether that was what you would have liked! Surprises there will be, although I have to admit they will take another chappie or two.;) And yeah, I noticed that too in another fic - Sonic makes such a difference to the atmosphere, it´s amazing! Let´s see whether we can´t have some more relationship stuff between the two, though...Thanks a lot for your insightful comment, they´re always a pleasure to read:)

**Nintendo Mania: **Heh, talk about a wave in my inbox. ;) Yeah, Sonic´s probably going to run Knux ragged in this one...literally! XD thanks for the comments!

**The Conflicted Writer: **Speed Break and Time Stop should be there, they´re too cool to be left out...though when and where I can´t tell yet. About my own soul gauge move...well, if inspiration strikes and it fits in. Not sure, though. Glad you like the fic! I do hope this chapter is to your tastes as well - please enjoy!

**MegaHog14: **Yup, their (ahem) 'friendship'. That about sums it up. XD Some more of that in this chappie...(blushes) thanks for the nice comment!

**NaughtyGirl93: **Heh, Knux and Sonic DO attract quite the large fanbase here...but seriously, their egos riccocheting off one another are awesome. I´m glad you like the story so far, thanks a lot for the comment:)

* * *

**Chapter 9: Sight the King!**

_Last time... _ **  
**

"Knux! Look!"

The Guardian slowly opened his eyes.

"Wha…?"

"There!" Sonic pointed to something behind him and Knuckles shifted himself to turn around. Both hedgehog and echidna regarded the breathtaking sight of the Palace, bathed in the last of the evening light.

"We´ve made it! Oh Knuckles, I could kiss you!"

"No. You don´t."

But Sonic wasn´t even listening. The hedgehog was looking around where they had landed with the air of a child in a candy store – which was pretty close to reality, actually, if your kids come blue and spiky and you can succeed in getting them to prefer fruit over, say, triple-frosted chocolate cake.

"Food! Everywhere! Come on, Knux, let´s get us some before it´s a mirage or something!"

As it turned out, Sonic needn´t have worried. The garden they were in could be described as being closer to an actual park – it was several hundred yards in each direction and beautifully constructed. There were large flower beds and plantations in rows, often with palm trees to each side of them to give them some shade. Desert roses framed the sandy paths and on the grass lay cream-coloured stepping stones, gleaming in the twilight, so even any gardeners watering the lawn wouldn't destroy the beauty (Knuckles hoped they wouldn't have to account for two Mobian-shaped dents and a huge rock in the near future).

On two sides tall walls bordered the sprawling bounty, alcoves with benches and small fountains at regular intervals embedded in them. With architectural cleverness, an irrigation system had also been constructed, a lively tiny stream flowing along the fruit-carrying plants in its rectangle stone bed.

Right now, Sonic was hanging over it and drinking, savouring the feeling of wetness on his lips and tongue which had already reminded him of sandstone during those last hours.

"You drink like a feral pig," Knuckles commented next to him, who had picked up half a coconut shell and was using this as a drinking bowl.

"As long as feral pigs don´t die of dehydration that's fine by me, Knux," Sonic replied cheerfully, grinning at him with a wet muzzle.

"Shouldn't we proceed to the King?" Shahra asked anxiously, pointing into the direction of the Palace that was now only a few hundred metres away, rising up high behind the lush vegetation of its garden.

"I dunno," said Sonic, "looks to me like they already closed up for the night," he added, indicating the securely barred upper half of the dark wood gate, which was all that could be seen over the plants.

"But what if Erazor was after the King right now?" the genie pressed, wringing her hands as she was shooting furtive glances at the majestic building and back at her master.

"Don't you think that it would be somewhat more noticeable if the Palace was under attack by a magical, power-crazed pink Djinn at the moment?" Knuckles commented dryly, clearly not wishing to do any more adventuring for today.

"As rare as it may be, I think this time red and rough over there has a point," Sonic fell in, ignoring the noise of a choking echidna behind him. "Besides, Shahra," he said, and anyone looking closer would have noticed the slightly drooping ears and faint tremble in his gesturing hand by now, "I´m happy to do absolutely everything in my power to help you and your world, but right now I´m completely beat. I'll be lucky if I can even summon the energy to get myself something to eat, never mind collecting the wood for a campfire. If I faced Erazor tonight I´d probably collapse before he even shot a second arrow," he finished, a weary smile tugging at his lips.

Knuckles found himself silently agreeing. Even the sturdy echidna wanted nothing else just then but to eat and sleep, and the peaceful, protected atmosphere and soft ground of the garden seemed only too inviting to lie down upon.

Shahra bit her lip, understanding and the wish for urgency battling behind her eyes. Finally she nodded and sighed. "If that is your wish, my master. But can we please proceed in the morning?" she asked, timidly.

Sonic gave a tired thumbs-up. "Sure, if you want to. I´ll be game."

Seemingly satisfied with this she smiled and nodded, vanishing into her ring once more.

"Touching bonding aside, think you'll be able to get us some edible fruit around here? I'll take care of the fire wood. It´s already getting cold." Knuckles drew the attention back onto himself as he indicated the rows of cultivated plants opposite them with a swipe of his arm.

"Uh…sure. You wanna camp right here?"

"A little bit further into the foliage perhaps. I don´t want to be woken up by a couple of Palace garden guards asking us what we´re doing here."

"Yeah…" Sonic agreed, scanning their surroundings once more for anyone else about. "Right now there´s no one around but us…but I guess that's good. I mean, I want to _save_ that king, not get thrown into his dungeons or something." A certain twinkle entered his eyes at that and he added: "I mean, he wouldn't be the _first_ to attack some innocent blue hedgehog just because he visited their home unannounced, huh, Knux? Nudge nudge."

"You're a riot, hedgehog," The echidna shot him a last withering glare before abruptly turning around and vanishing into the bushes.

"Geez,_ someone_ has been hit by a magic arrow, but it´s not exactly wedged in his chest…" Sonic muttered, not before making sure the Guardian couldn't hear that last bit. Then he walked off himself, glancing up at the unfamiliar trees and wondering what to get.

Sonic had briefly wondered whether he should feel guilty about what was basically stealing, but upon seeing more than one fruit on the ground and rotten, he decided not to. They apparently had a lot more than they needed here.

But he had grown up in a somewhat tropic climate on Christmas Island and later mostly lived in the temperate Zones around Station Square, so Mediterranean fruit and what they looked like when they were ripe weren´t that familiar to the blue hedgehog.

_Great.__ Knucklehead is probably gonna eat -me- if I can´t come back with something decent._

They could have gone on to the Palace and hoped to be treated as guests, of course, but if there really was a king they should talk to the proceedings were likely to take hours. So, staying outside and pilfering it was, no offence intended.

A smile spread across Sonic´s lips as he finally saw something he recognized.

"Bananas! Energy food!"

The flame on his chest actually proved useful as he tried to figure out in the twilight which ones were already yellow – _just like a torch I don´t even need to hold. Still would be happier if that thing was gone, though. Stupid pyromaniac djinn. _

There were other trees with fruit Sonic didn´t know, but he got some of them anyway. Chances were Knux would be able to recognize them, since he was possibly the only person who spent even more time outside than the hedgehog.

xxx

"Great, you already got the fire going." Sonic used as means of greeting as he arrived back at their campsite and dumped the load of fruits in front of Knuckles who was just shifting the last of the wood on a pile.

"Yeah. For the 'fastest thing alive' you sure take your own sweet time for collecting some food."

"No dissing the speed, Knux." Sonic´s tone was as warning as exhausted. "I didn't see _you_ racing up any walls today."

"No, and _you_ didn't see me carrying your blue carcass halfway through this godforsaken desert, either. So, what have you got?"

Sonic knew enough about the echidna to recognize the last question as an offering of cease-fire and didn't argue further.

"Some bananas. Not sure about the rest, you know them?" he asked, holding up two fruit in his hands when he had sat down.

Knuckles scrutinized them in the light of the fire. Angel Island went through a lot of different climate zones and therefore he was able to cultivate a huge variety of plants.

"What you've got there is a fig. These ones are dates. Apart from that, there´s pomegranates, some apricots, these red berries I don´t know, but they're probably edible if they grow them here, they look ripe…" The echidna went on as he sifted through the various fruit, Sonic´s ears and nose twitching in interest.

"There weren't any…grapes?" the Guardian finally asked, his voice for the first time not _quite_ as level at the last part.

Sonic had to grin. "Sorry, bud. No grapes. Failed to find a Chili Dog tree either, so it doesn't look like any one of us gets their favourite food tonight."

"I never said they were my favourite food!"

"Okay, okay!" the hedgehog chuckled. For some reason whenever it was about any personal things that could be construed to be something as mortal as an actual _weakness,_ the echidna became even more inclement than usual. But Sonic was of the kind of people that could get along with almost anybody and therefore he didn't mind - besides, you didn't have to be a genius to notice the twitching of the Guardian´s tail whenever grapes were even _close_.

"Any questions about preferences aside…dig in!" Sonic said, gesturing invitingly to the pile and grabbing a banana for himself.

Calmed down again, the echidna followed his example and both of them enjoyed a quiet meal next to the flickering flames underneath an unfamiliar sky.

The food was as strange as intriguing. Some yellow fruit that looked like they were ripe tasted sour and forbidding, while others that appeared already rotten had a sweet, apple-sauce-like inside. The unknown red berries were tasty and reminded Sonic of the mulberries he´d had in his childhood. All in all, it was a real fairy-tale feast…

After a while Knuckles regarded the hedgehog, who was right now munching on a fig relaxedly while staring up at the stars, with something that was almost envy. He looked so comfortable…the blue speedster was at home almost _everywhere_, while every bite, every noise, every smell only reminded the Guardian more fiercely that he wasn´t where he was supposed to be. Knuckles sighed in irritation and tried to focus on something else.

"You shouldn't drink so much water together with apricots and figs. They'll give you stomach cramps."

Sonic looked up. "Huh? But they do make one thirsty…heh, no worries Knux, this belly has dealt with worse stuff."

_Then again, even I wouldn't exchange the ability to feel comfortable against such amounts of obvious stupidity. _

"Suit yourself."

"Does echidna culture say anything about the stars?"

"What?" Knuckles looked at Sonic, taken aback. The hedgehog changed topics as quick as direction while running.

"You know…like, legends what the pictures you see are about. Or signs of the zodiac. That kind of thing." He grinned. "I figured since we´re in a story book we could tell some."

Knuckles regarded the hedgehog with an unreadable stare. Then a corner of his mouth twitched and he leaned slightly forward.

"Hmm…yes, actually. I found an old calendar down in the shrine and also a star map, some inscriptions and a circle of the zodiac."

"Really?" Sonic had scooted closer to the fire since the temperatures were really starting to sink now and his eyes shone in interest. "Is it different from the other ones on Mobius?"

"Yes. There are twelve animals and attributes."

Sonic whistled. The echidna only rarely volunteered information of his own culture so the ever-curious hedgehog usually grasped any opportunity he could to wriggle some out of him. "Cool. What about people born in June?"

"Actually, the calendar doesn't go just by months, it also goes by years, so there´s a total of 144 possible combinations. For your full sign of the zodiac you need your complete birthdate," the Guardian explained.

"Okay, so what´s the animal and attribute for June, seventeen years ago?" Sonic asked, grinning.

"Unreasonable Hamster."

"_What?!"_ Sonic stared at the echidna, completely taken aback and actually slightly blushing, before he suddenly noticed the miscchievious twinkle in the Guardian´s eyes and the slight smirk on his muzzle.

"You´re such a-!"

"Just getting back at you for your comment earlier," The echidna declared, sounding much too innocent for Sonic´s liking. Still, after a few moments the hedgehog could only grin in return. He shook his head.

"I think I should drag you through deserts more often. It certainly helps you to lighten up."

"Not if you don´t want to end up in a giant gerbil ball for real, hedgehog," Knuckles shot back, taking another bite out of his pomegranate.

But he had to admit, suddenly he also found the whole atmosphere a whole lot more comfortable. That hedgehog sure was an odd one...

"…there isn´t really such a thing as the 'Unreasonable Hamster' in your zodiac, is there?"

"Hell, _no._"

xxx

The rest of the meal had passed in amiable silence and soon the moon had also risen high up in the night sky, when Knuckles commented they should better go to sleep now.

"But we should do half a night´s watch each," he added, "I don´t care whether there´s no guards right now but I still don´t want to be taken by surprise. Plus, if that Djinn attacks at night, we´d better be ready," he finished, after burying the last of the scraps of the fruit. "So, who should stay up first?"

"Uh, I can do it." Sonic quickly volunteered, one hand laying on his stomach only lightly, "I don´t feel like sleeping right now, anyway…"

Knuckles had difficulty to prevent smirking from becoming a habit. Raising an eyebrow instead, he asked: "Your stomach not that tough after all, I take it?"

"That has nothing to do with it!"

"Whatever you say…Hamsterhog." Knuckles replied, curling up with his back to the fire.

Sonic groaned. Echidnas with a sense of humour _and_ stomach cramps at one sitting was just too much, even for him.

xxx

"Hey, Knux."

"Hnn?" The echidna blinked sleepily as a hand on his shoulder was trying to shake him awake.

_What is that hedgehog thinking, I just closed my eyes…_

"Half of the night´s over, your turn to watch."

"Huh." The Guardian replied intelligibly as he tried to sit up. He could have _sworn_ it had just been two minutes…but the moon, which had wandered across half of the sky already, contradicted that somewhat.

"You okay to stay awake?" Sonic asked, trying to make eye contact with the somewhat bleary gaze of his red friend.

"Yeah, yeah, you go to sleep."

"Alright…" Sonic contentedly curled up as well (at which hedgehogs were even better than echidnas) and was asleep within seconds. Knuckles shot the back of blue spikes another envious look, this time for completely different reasons.

Still, at least he had tended to the fire well, which was still burning brightly and nicely. Determined to do an equally well job at watching, the Guardian sat up cross-legged and tried to attune himself to the surroundings. Winds blowing softly…trees rustling…fire crackling…water of the stream splashing in the distance…embers…dancing…

Knuckles jerked upwards with a gasp where he had almost slumped and fallen asleep. This was ridiculous, he could sit up three nights in a row when he had to guard the Emerald, a mere night´s watch should be a piece…of…cake…

"Argh!" the echidna hissed, furiously rubbing his own face to chase away the sleep that was threatening to overwhelm him.

Then again, he had never been forced to spend the day in such a hot place…yeah…that sure sapped your energy, that did…but he had to…stay awake…

xxx

"Shhh! Guardian."

"Wha?!" Knuckles´ head flew up again as a small voice had whispered into his ear, all his instincts immediately on red alert. He blinked around wildly, only unconsciously noticing that it was already morning and that they were still on their campsite in the Palace garden. Sonic was lying next to the merrily burning fire on his back, sleeping peacefully.

Only now the echidna finally turned his head to face the speaker. Shahra was floating next to him, smiling apologetically.

"I´m sorry, Guardian, but you fell asleep and I thought it would be best to let you rest. I took your watch for you and tended to the fire. Was that alright?"

"Uh…yeah." He managed after some frantic attempts to get his own thoughts sorted again. "Just, eh…don´t tell Sonic about that, okay?" he added, his red fur thankfully hiding a slight reddening of the cheeks. _He´d never let me live that down. _

"Of course." Shahra nodded, smiling.

What Knuckles didn't know was that Sonic, whose sleep-deprived body had hit the sand only ten minutes into _his_ watch, had asked her the exact same thing when she had woken him, too.

A good thing genies didn't need to sleep.

Especially if your current master looked so _cute_ when dreaming, too.

Shahra giggled slightly, but Knuckles didn't pay her any attention.

xxx

"Get some breakfast, get some breakfast, let´s all send the poor little hungry hedgie to get some breakfast…" Sonic was walking through the garden grumbling and rubbing his upper arms in the cool air as he looked around for any activity and trees he hadn't yet ravaged.

_Mental Memo_: Remember that when playing Paper, Scissors, Rock with Knux, never, ever choose 'Rock' again. That guy can´t even _do _'scissors'.

"There are some ripe fruit over there…" Shahra, who had appeared once more pointed out.

"Hey Shahra! Good morning, spent the rest of the night well?" Sonic asked, his pout immediately dissolving into a smile for her.

Taken aback by a master showing such obvious courtesy, she was silent for a second, before stammering: "Yes! I mean…yes. Good morning to you, too…Sonic."

"That's the way to go, Shahra." The hedgehog replied cheerfully, "Thanks again for waking me up, by the way. I suck at watches." A grin. "Pretty weird there's still no guards around, huh?" he asked as he was once again yanking on one of the banana plants, his tongue between his lips. "I would have thought that our fire alone should have been enough to attract some."

"Yes…" she replied hesitantly. The lack of other people besides them had already been worrying her. Then another thought entered her head, one she had not dared voice yet.

"Say, ma…Sonic, why do you treat me this way?"

"Treat you what way?" he asked, confused.

"As if I was…an equal. As if you weren't my master, but…but…you never give me direct orders, you always request, never demand, you thank me, you greet me, you…you are so _nice!"_ she finished, her hands waving around in the air as if to demonstrate her helplessness to get a grasp on this new situation.

"Is that wrong?" Sonic asked, a lop-sided grin on his face as one ear was turned up, the other flattened questioningly.

"No! It´s just…" she sighed. "I don't understand it, that's all."

"Well," he began, shrugging as they started to make their way back with their loot, "I never order you around because I do believe everyone should be free to do what they want…excluding certain egg-shaped loonies, anyway. Don't you?"

"I…I never thought about that…"

"Well, you should." Sonic said as they arrived back at their campsite, "Cause knowing what it is that you truly want and then doing it is important for everyone, otherwise you´re unhappy forever, y´know?"

"But…I´m a _genie._"

"Really? I´m a hedgehog. Nice to meet you."

"What?" Knuckles at their campsite turned around to a considerably more cheerful Sonic and one once more very thoughtful (if slightly confused) spirit girl. "What are you talking about, Sonic?"

"Never mind. Here, have some fruit, we want to save a king today."

xxx

They ate the rest of the food quickly (Sonic for some reason carefully staying away from the apricots and figs) and Knuckles quickly buried the remains of their fire and waste. Then, the trio emerged from the bushes to step on the lined path on their way to the Palace.

"Hey, the gate is open but I _still_ don't see anyone." Sonic wondered as they stepped inside.

"The gate opens and closes each morning and night by automated magic…the engineer encased the living genies in the construction as he built it."

"Did he." Sonic answered, but the expression on his face was now considerably darker.

They walked through the entrance hall, continuing on to the inner parts of the Palace and anyone who hadn't run around the world and back again (or alternatively floated over it at some point) would have been completely awestruck by the majesty and beauty of the craftsmanship displayed here. The already impressive ruins they had passed earlier didn't even _compare._

The floor was of polished marble, mirroring their every step, while huge windows with pointed arcs in the high walls gave the whole building the air of a massive aviary where sunshine and winds could flow freely. Intricately decorated columns (non-attacking kind) wound their way up into the painted ceiling.

In some of the halls stood ornately carved fountains, the sound of the cheerfully splashing water the only noise beside their steps, in others hung colourful pictures, each one seemingly telling a story all by itself. Lifelike statues stood at the side in hallways, depicting humans, but to the surprise of the hedgehog and echidna, also sapients – a purple stone cat in rich clothing holding a carved flame in her hand or a mouse with curiously round ears who for some reason wore ridiculously large shoes and buttoned pants that didn't fit in with the scenery at all.

"Say…don't I know that one from somewhere else?" Sonic asked, confusedly turning his head as they had already passed it.

Shahra shrugged. "One famous legend influencing another. Believe me, there are only a few things that mouse hasn´t yet invaded."

"Okay…"

They walked on in silence, passing open doorways on their left and right where sometimes tables with spinner games were set or an entire banquet prepared with only a few chairs knocked over…But despite all the splendour and wonders they saw, without the hustle and bustle of any life the entire Palace seemed somehow just _pointless_, like a story that had a lot of description but no characters.

"Where is that Shahryar? Are we too late?" Knuckles asked finally, voicing the exact thoughts of a worried-looking Shahra.

Sonic shook his head. "No. There's probably just some rabid mushroom going to jump out and tell us 'Sorry Sonic, the King is in another castle!' or something."

Silence ensued.

The echidna, who mentally berated himself for even _bothering_ anymore, finally shot Sonic a stare. _"What_?"

The hedgehog just grinned. "The Genesis isn't the only console I own. No, but seriously, I don't think Erazor´s been here yet."

"Oh? And why?" Knuckles asked, arching an eye ridge sceptically as the genie next to him also shot Sonic a hopeful look.

"Well, for one thing the Palace is still standing, right?"

Shahra´s expression turned horrified. Knuckles covered his eyes with a hand.

"Besides, you said it usually took a _week_ to cross the desert, didn't you?" the hedgehog added hurriedly, trying to calm down a distressed Shahra, "So Cherry Blossom Festival probably thought he had all the time in the world! I'm sure he's not visited the King yet! Shahra, I _didn't mean the last thing I said_!"

"Then why did you say it, hedgehog?" the Guardian grated, annoyed as the general feeling of pointlessness that usually followed him on journeys with Sonic began to creep up again.

"Look, I-"

But Sonic never got to finish his sentence as their attention was suddenly diverted by a violently rocking jar in the corner of the room.

"Huh?" the hedgehog's eyes widened in surprise while the echidna tensed in anticipation of an attack. Nothing however could have prepared them for the sight of the figure emerging as the vase finally broke apart.

"What's Eggman doing here?!" Sonic shouted in shock, but recovered fast. "Aha! I knew it! This is all another one of your schemes!".

The man's head jerked up at this and nobody could deny that it was indeed Robotnik – yet everything suggested he wasn't. The body shape, hair, giant moustache and face were exactly the same, down to the dark glasses which seemed to eternally cover his eyes, but those were the only familiar details.

His bald head was adorned with a black turban that sported a tall red feather on the front. The Doctor's trademark red bodysuit had gone, to be replaced with a flowing, purple, robe-like jacket that was also decorated with gold stripes – underneath he wore a more form-fitting black shirt and pair of pants as well as a red sash tied around his waist. A curved sword and his normal boots (albeit ridiculously pointy at the ends) topped it off.

Sonic was speechless, but not for long.

"You tried to conquer a costume rental while I was away Eggman, or wha-"

"_WHAT is the meaning of this_!" the human bellowed him into silence as he climbed to his feet. Slightly more dignified, he huffed: "I am _Shahryar_, king of this land."

"And Knux over here is princess Jasmine. Cut it, Doc, what are you up to this time?"

"Sonic, wait! You're making a terrible mistake! This is him. This is King Shahryar!" Shahra called out, floating in front of him. The human meanwhile had turned an unhealthy crimson at the hedgehog´s conduct.

"Such insolence! Guards! Seize this blue spiky thing at once!"

"_What_ did you just ca-_mmpf!"_ Sonic wriggled furiously in Shahra´s grasp as the genie had clamped a hand over his mouth to hopefully save their very lives. Knuckles tensed for a fight and everyone remained frozen as they all awaited armed men to storm out of the doors.

A minute passed. Sonic had ceased struggling.

Another minute passed. The king suddenly looked rather worried as both hedgehog and echidna turned towards him, their expressions full of questions and dark promises.

"Where are your men, Your Highness?" Shahra asked quickly, trying to ease the tension with her naturally servile attitude. The human turned towards her like a drowning man would hone on a friendly dolphin and hope those _other _triangular fins swimming around him would please, please go away. He tried to ignore the unfriendly expressions of the Mobians in his back and spoke:

"Oh…that's right. Let me explain. When the evil spirits appeared out of nowhere, everyone turned and ran. And I was stuck having to hide in that jar."

"Yeah, right. Look, not even Shads in full amnesia mode would buy tha-"

A terrible screech let their heads turn all at once. Through one of the huge windows a giant winged beast had suddenly flown in and was now soaring towards them, scaled wings and claws stretched wide.

"Duck!" Knuckles screamed and while Sonic was quick to obey, the oval human clearly wasn't. He remained standing, staring at the pterosaur in stupor and only resumed struggling and shouting as the reptile had already grabbed him and was rapidly ascending again.

"Noooooo! Help me!"

"What! Time for some action!" Sonic shouted, already leaping to his feet and running. Shahra and Knuckles were following close behind, the latter one mumbling just under his breath something about the reaction time of certain heroes.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Dr. Robotnik – King Shahryar?! Read on to find out what is real and mirage in this fairy tale of illusions…

Quick Question: Well, I _could _have written: 'After sleeping in the garden, Sonic and Knux went on into the palace. Suddenly they found a jar.' ...which would have meant a shortening of the fic. What I wanted to know: You like one of those character-interaction/ descriptive pieces once in a while or was it more nay than yay?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review to make me happy and write faster! XD

**Next up: Chase! Boss Fight!**


	10. Chase! Boss Fight!

**Disclaimer: Pie. **

**MegaHog14:**Ooooh, mean snide comment on Sonic…love it! XD Glad you thought it was a good chappie, thanks for the review:)

**Ember Rock: **Heh, happy to hear that. There´s a couple more scenes like that planned, though not immediately…yeah, Shadow and his missing memory. In his game, he believed _everything_ everyone told him and people say Knuckles is gullible…glad you like the little references, writing them's the most fun. :-) About Shahra and what she thinks of Sonic…weeell, he surely _has_ some influence on the female cast, doesn't he? XD So far let´s wait and see…;) Thanks a lot for the encouraging comment!

**Ri2:**Well, I think they thought going in would have meant talking to an endless amount of people to explain their story, make it believable and then have an audience with the King when all they wanted to do was just going to sleep…so they probably preferred simple camping. As for your other questions, they just might be answered in the story ;) Thanks for the review!

**Nintendo Mania: **Aww, thanks! (blushes) Yup, that was Blaze…or one of her ancestors, you never know. Glad you liked the chapter!

**Joey Taylor: **(glances at screen name) do I sense a fellow Yugioh fan there? XD I´m happy you thought it was good, thanks for giving your opinion!

**The Conflicted Writer: **Well, I´d say it was because Disney already cashed in on Aladdin so much…then again, I do know a few comic stories where Mickey was in a sort of ancient Arabia setting, which were very cute. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the character interaction and the side gags – I have to admit I just love writing little cameos and spoofs, so expect some more. ;)

**D.C.111:**Urgs, another comma mistake. Shadow in 'Life could have…' is not the only one who hates these things, believe me…XD thanks for pointing it out, though, it´s been corrected now. :) Yeah, the Shahra-Sonic relationship is coming along nicely so far…let´s hope it continues like this, I think the hedgie is the best thing that could have happened to her.

**BoomTheHedgehog:**Thanks! Hey, I bought a collection of Arabian Nights fairy tales when I started writing this fic, too! How´s the story called:3 And that what you mentioned definitely holds a certain charm…XD I think I'll write something about it, either as a reference, a side-story or a spin-off one-shot…thanks for commenting and mentioning it to me!

**azngirlchibi:**Heh, yeah, the obligatory Shahra scene…I wasn't that sure about it, because it sorta _has_ to be there, even though it shows up in all SatsR stories…still, it was meant as a culmination of Shahra's thought process – first Sonic tells her he's her friend, then she sees in between Sonic and Knux what friendship really _means_ and then she asks him directly for the first time…but yeah, I'll find something else for her to whine about. Oooh, and did you notice I found a way to make the spaces when typing an ' disappear? XD Thanks for your comment:)

**Forgotten Muse: **Thanks! (blushes) glad you liked the character stuff, expect some more next chapter…

**NaughtyGirl93:** I know how you feel! Myself, I can't afford a PS3 for Sonic NextGen and I want to play it so badly…XD Glad you liked the jokes! And yes, Shahra does have some feelings, but who can blame her? ;) Thanks for the review!

**Robin Moto: **(raises eyebrow) another Yugioh fan? XD Cool. Yeah, glad you finf Knux' inner monoluge funny, I think most characters have no idea what's going on in his mind most of the time…;) Nope, no re-hash here, there'll be a rather big twist next chappie coming up. :)

**Miashin:**Hi there, glad to see you again! A desert hedgehog, huh? That's cool, maybe I can do something with that…and if you ever do that fanart of lampshade-Shadow you _have_ to show it to me! XD A link on my profile would be the least…Thanks for the help, the chappies are now reuploaded as well. :)

**AnimeBabe:**Glad to hear it! (bows) Always happy to please. :)

**JudasFm: **Thanks! Glad you liked the banter - there's not much that would be able to shut up this hedgehog. ;) Let's just hope Shahra won't accidentally blab anything of that night out, right? XD

* * *

**Chapter 10: Chase! Boss Fight! **

"What! Time for some action!" Sonic shouted, already leaping to his feet and running. Shahra and Knuckles were following close behind, the latter one mumbling just under his breath something about the reaction time of certain heroes.

The long hallways and corridors, that had been so impressive on their way in, now were just incredibly annoying. Paintings and decorations flew past the hurrying trio as they dashed back the way they'd come,which had been approximately the direction the pterosaur had fled into. Knuckles soon found himself hanging back as Sonic kicked into high gear, only caring for the chase.

The echidna came to an abrupt halt a few seconds later where the hedgehog, not even sweating, was standing in front of one the high walls in the garden and talking to Shahra, agitated.

"Please, Shahra! Can´t you levitate me over the wall? It´s _urgent!_"

"I know, master, I´m so sorry, it´s just so _tall-"_

"What are you standing there?! Spin-dash your way through!" Knuckles shouted, once again wondering whether the same creator person that had been so generous in the speed department with Sonic, hadn't also cut down the budget when it came to the equipment higher up.

"I dunno whether you´ve noticed, Knucklehead, but that wall´s like six feet solid stone, I could never – hey, wait!" A sudden light had gone on in the hedgehog's eyes and he leapt into the air before spinning right into the ground. Knuckles followed suit, keeping a safe distance between him and the blue buzz-saw as both of them hoped the wall wouldn't extend into the earth.

They emerged only a few moments later on the other side, Sonic not quite as steady on his feet as the echidna.

"And that's exactly why I don't spin-dash for more than one minute extended…whoa, there!" the staggering hedgehog tripped over Knuckles´ foot, but the Guardian paid him no heed. He was squinting into the distance where the beast was becoming an ever tinier speck in the sky.

"Sonic! It´s nearly gone!"

"What?" Sonic´s brain had stopped trying to imitate the Windows Media Player Visualizations in front of his mind´s eye and the hedgehog felt able to contribute to the conversation again.

"We'll lose it! Get a grip on yourself, for the Emeralds' sake!"

"No way! How did it get so far so fast?!" Sonic's eyes widened in surprise, before he took off, racing through the miles of sand trying to catch up.

_Approaching speed of sound…_

He simply had to get there. That King character was his only lead.

"Sonic! The Guardian is lagging behind!" Shahra was suddenly next to him and pointed back the way they'd come, worry riding on her words as the winds were still rushing past them, blowing away everything that couldn't keep up.

Sonic could have slapped himself. Knuckles wasn't Shads. He had forgotten.

The red speck was getting smaller. The green, winged one, too. He had to make a decision. Now.

Running on would have meant abandoning Knux with thin chances to find him again in this desert, but _stopping_ would mean losing the dinosaur…and with it the only chance to find out what was going on. The thoughts in his head were racing and it felt like two sides of himself were warring with each other.

_Leave him, Knuckles can fend for himself for a while!_

_You have that arrow stuck in your chest, you need to get to the king if you want to have it out…you´ll never know wher__e that pterosaur went! You'll die! _

_Run! _

_Break that wall of sound!_

Sonic stopped dead.

Not least because he thought he was hallucinating.

For in front of him, he could clearly see a tiny version of himself, fluttering with red bat wings and sprouting two horns that would almost look cute, hadn't they seemed so _sharp._

"_What is it?! Run ON!"_ it urged, throwing a mini-tantrum and waving its pitchfork around.

Sonic turned wide-eyed towards Shahra, one perturbed hand pointing at the thing.

"It´s ehm…your darker side?" she wagered.

"What?!"

The genie shrugged apologetically. "Another peculiarity of being in a story book, I´m afraid. 'Figure of speech' over here is meant _literal_, you know."

Slightly creeped out as metaphors were once again taken _too_ far, Sonic turned around to the tiny being. He now noticed it hadn't only horns, but also an elongated tail that ended in a little spike and twitched impatiently.

"Eh…"

"_Don't just stand there, idiot! You never listen to me __usually__, so at least do it NOW when both our lives are at stake! Forget about that useless ant eater!"_

Sonic´s brow furrowed and he crossed his arms in front of his chest, all thoughts of dinosaurs and overweight kings momentarily forgotten.

"Yeah, right. Listen, evil mini me, if I ever left my friend alone in a desert, I´d rather _stab_ myself with this stupid flame thing right here. Got that? Now buzz off." Sonic replied, choosing to be irritated rather than plain freaked out. The muscles in his legs were itching with the feeling of having slowed down just before a sonic boom. It was a bit like a sneeze that hadn't come, only now your entire lower body complained instead of just your nose.

Tiny demon Sonic ground its teeth. Then an idea seemed to strike it and the little thing tried an engaging smile.

"_Why don't you come to the dark side? We have Chili Dogs."_

"Bite me."

The little hedgehog devil vanished with an indignant squeak and an angry puff of smoke, while Sonic had the odd impression of briefly seeing _another_ tiny version of himself, this one wearing a tunic-like white gown and break-dancing.

He turned around to Shahra.

"…will these two turn up again? I don't wanna whine, but I feel like a complete schizophrenic right now."

The genie shrugged. "Depends on whether you want them to or not. They're usually a literary device so inner monologues of the protagonist don't become too boring, you know?"

"That's still no excuse for them to sound like an internet forum signature, in my opinion. Oh, hey Knux."

The echidna had just caught up, raising an eye ridge at the impressive skid marks in the sand.

"Why…did you…stop?" he asked. The Guardian was obviously trying to control his breathing, but the long sprint across a ground that let your feet sink in with every step, along with the heat that was already starting to feel oppressive again, hadn't been kind to the echidna's lungs.

"I figured if we go, we go together. We'll find that thing anyway. A giant ancient beast carrying the biggest behind in history shouldn't be that hard to miss, huh?"

Knuckles looked at him for a few moments, but didn't say anything. His expression was once again impenetrable.

"If you say so," he managed at last. "So, which way are we heading? You saw that flying reptile last."

"Towards the mountains. Maybe there´ll even be some shade."

"Okay. But I still don't get what a _dinosaur_ is doing in the Arabian Nights." Knuckles replied, frowning.

"Oh, they didn't _use_ to be dinosaurs." Shara said, looking into the distance.

"What?" Sonic asked, confusion on his face. "You're not going to try to explain to us that they started out as eggs, right?"

Shahra had to smile slightly, but it didn't look particularly happy. "No. It´s different. You see, when the Arabian Nights were written, the people still believed in magical monsters. Their imaginations shaped our world and created the beasts living within."

"And? That still doesn't explain why Jurassic Park just flew through the window of the Palace."

"Please, let me finish. The creatures in our world were as diverse as they could be. Superstition and fear of the unknown let them take the most incredible forms. But nowadays, people don't seem to exercise their imagination as much. When it says 'a giant lizard attacked Farid' the image they see is usually something they already know. A dinosaur. It has already been shown in so many school books, after all…all so realistic, all exactly the same." The voice of the genie faded, her large eyes downcast.

"So, those fairy-tale monsters you had here in earlier times, they-" Sonic began, as it became apparent Shahra wasn't going to speak again.

"Looked different, yes. They had multiple heads, were part bird, lived in caves of diamond or could talk in the tongues of the ancients, all depending on who had read the book. Nowadays, they're just…dinosaurs."

Silence settled in between them as nobody knew what to reply to that. Knuckles wasn't exactly sure that a simple pterosaur wasn't an improvement if compared to a bird beast with diamond heads that would rant while killing you, but didn't feel like voicing that thought when looking at Shahra´s face.

"It´s not that bad, though." The genie spoke again, her expression carefully composed as if she felt she had to make an effort to lighten the mood again. "There´s still plenty of imaginative and exotic creatures around. Creativity is not yet dead, even in your time. But those of our beasts that turned into dinosaurs now live in the valley we´re heading towards."

"Okay." Sonic said, trying to focus on their current mission again as the strange spell seemed to have been broken, "that means we have to get going before long. Rested enough, Knux?"

When the Guardian agreed, Sonic took off, jogging at a pace he knew the echidna could hold easily and the journey continued. A few hundred yards to the right from them an abandoned city stretched along, continuing from the Palace at its edge out into the desert. The pair could now see that they had yesterday actually entered from the backside garden, while the main gate opened up into the sprawling Arabian metropolis on the other side. But like everything else the city was deserted, not a single sign of life to be seen as hedgehog and echidna raced past, the silence now almost as oppressive as the heat.

xxx

It was approximately one hour later when they were standing underneath a palm tree, pausing shortly to catch their breath (and also noticing for the first time that they had forgotten to bring any water with them _again_) that Knuckles finally spoke.

"You can go on without me, you know. We can meet up later."

"Huh?" A frowning Sonic turned towards him, his darkened expression dissolving into a neutral, questioning one.

"I can see this pace is bugging you. Your entire body language suggests it. If you want to find that dinosaur so badly, I won't stop you."

"No way, Knux. We go together or not at all. That's not what was bothering me, anyway."

"Then what?" the echidna asked, curious despite himself. In his book, Sonic usually was just interested in speed, possibly Tails, or food, and nothing else. Seeing him brooding like this was so out of character that it was actually cause for concern. Was that fire arrow getting to him? Sonic gave Knuckles a long stare, but then finally spoke.

"I mean, think about it. How did he even fit _in_ that jar?"

Silence descended.

"…I could hit you right now."

Sonic's 120 watt grin was in place again. "Sorry, Knucklehead, just kidding. Should have seen your face, though."

"_Sonic_…"

"But I was actually thinking about something else."

"Where to get some common sense, perhaps?"

"Funny. No, I was wondering about that King character, in fact. I just don't know – _is_ he Eggman or not? It´s weird."

"Well, he certainly looked the part and the personality fit, but what would he hope to achieve by pretending to be someone else? I think Shahra´s right, it must be a strange doppelganger," Knuckles mused as they were already moving on, still running alongside the city in the distance. Sonic shook his head.

"I hope not. I mean, the idea of a world containing _two_ giant moustaches like that is just too terrifying."

"But surely Shahra should know what the king looks like?"

"Maybe." Sonic replied vaguely, while a part of him hoped the echidna was right. Actually, he had been building high hopes on the supposed 'creator of the Arabian Nights' – but connecting any hopes to Robotnik would just be wrong (not to mention stupid) on so many levels. There was absolutely no way the megalomaniac human would tell them more about those strange world rings, not to mention help Sonic get that arrow out of his chest. And that alone had been the reason for his rather bad mood since they had started out from the Palace.

"Sonic."

"What?" the hedgehog sounded rather more irritated than he meant to as he saw that the echidna had come to a halt behind him. "Why are you stopping?"

"Don't you feel it? There´s a strange tremble, almost like an earthquake."

Sonic fell silent and soon both could hear something, too – it sounded a bit like the river of sand, but the noise was coming at them from _everywhere_.

"Eh, Knux? The ground is moving." Sonic pointed down where all the grains were slithering into one direction in front of them and now an ominous rumbling was definitely audible. There were no birds that could fly from the trees in panic, but if there had been, they would have. Technically there _were_ some vultures, but they usually greet anything that could mean death for others with beaky smiles instead of going for the panic thing.

They were smiling now.

"Sonic, get back!"

"What the heck-?!" the blue hedgehog was also edging away now, retreating to where the echidna was calling out to him. A dozen yards in front of them a huge crater was starting to open up, sucking in the sand as if someone had pulled the most giant plug in history.

And then, something began to emerge…both Sonic and Knuckles´ eyes grew wide.

"What is that, tentacles?"

"No - more like antennas..."

Two huge, thick arms had started to worm themselves out of the sands, shaking and coiling as whatever they were connected to made its way towards the surface. They bent in inhuman angles, bone- and spineless as if they were snakes or caterpillars. The latter comparison probably came closest, as they looked like several balls lined up one after the other, rings of spikes connecting them, much like the body parts of an insect.

An insane mutant insect, anyway.

"Are those…stingers at their ends I´m seeing, Knux?"

"Yes."

"And then they have…eyes?"

"Again, yes."

"Many eyes."

"Yes. Many."

The mentioned giant, glazed eyeballs with red irises were blinking at them from the ends of the antennas, while the long spikes protruded directly underneath them. Again the appendages bent and wriggled furiously and the two stunned Mobians could see that the middle one of the seven round segments that made up each of the 'arms' was actually _another_ eyeball…and then the rest of the beast came out.

Some people don't like dogs because they bite. Others hate spiders because they have too many legs, are afraid of snakes because they kill with poison, or harbour a dislike against their living rooms because the colours are so hideous. All of these people would immediately completely reverse their attitudes towards those things upon seeing the monstrosity emerge - you usually only start appreciating something when you have seen the incredibly worse alternative, which managed to compose all those traits into one.

It had no tail, but still was a giant scorpion of sorts, with three legs wriggling on each side, while the two elongated stingers with the eyes reared high in the air, dripping with a gooey substance. Judging the size, it measured more than twenty feet in length and was almost half as wide. It was impossible to tell how many special effects designers must have died for that thing – or would kill, respectively.

Although its rump was one misshapen lump, it squirmed with surprising agility. Another giant eye, this one set directly in its back and largest of them all, opened and stared at them, as the beast shrieked in cacophony. Three cream orbs with blood-red irises focused on hedgehog and echidna, both staring at this trinity of disfigurement. Sonic crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"That's it. _Now_ I´m going to expect Erazor´s evil lair to be covered in daisies."

Knuckles sighed. "Sonic…"

"Knux, even his _giant killer scorpion _ comes in various shades of _pink._"

"More purple, actually."

"...so says Magenta Man."

"If you want to still be able to _discern_ colours in the future, hedgehog, I'll suggest you-"

"Guardian, look!"

Knuckles was cut off by a stinger piercing the place where he had just stood. The two-tailed scorpion of debatable colour screeched in fury as it had missed its prey and stabbed the sand again, spraying grains in all directions.

"Whoa! I take it that's not something you see everyday, huh?" Sonic commented to Shahra as he was dancing around and through the rain of sand where the beast reared.

"It must be a monster summoned forth by the Erazor Djinn!"

"No, really? I thought it was Amy trying to get another date."

At first, Shahra stared. Then, and Sonic couldn't believe his eyes, her lips twitched. Slightly.

Sonic punched the air. "Finally!"

When the genie looked at him surprised, he grinned. "I managed to cheer you up. And say what, Shahra; I'll have you smiling by the end of this day."

"_Are you two quite done yet?!" _ Knuckles raced past them, grabbing the blue hedgehog by the wrist and pulling him with him, just as a huge blob of purple liquid splattered the ground where they had just been.

"This is no time for talking, hedgehog! That thing _shoots!"_

"…oh."

"It will stop us if we try to proceed further! We need to defeat it!"

"If you say so, Shahra!"

"The eyes are it's weak point…!"

Sonic yanked his arm loose and accelerated. Knuckles had been right, of course. That scorpion-thing was really getting aggressive now.

_Let´s see how it likes a __homing attack…_

The blue hero leapt into the air, curling up and immediately blurring as his body started to rotate at the speed of a racing tire. The monster had just come down onto the sand again when Sonic hit it right on the eye of the left stinger. The screech of pain was deafening.

"Sonic, you hit it!"

Once again the genie girl was demonstrating her talent for steering the MS Obvious, but the hedgehog couldn't help but be just a little bit flattered at the amazement in her tone.

"Piece of – hey, where´s it going?!" He whirled around as the scorpion was suddenly fleeing, running backwards at break-neck speed, the injured eye now closed.

And it was _fast._

In a way that made sense, Sonic mused. Some insects, like spiders for example, were very well known for the fact that they could actually outrace humans over short distances, despite having to sort out so many legs. The last feral spider that had tried to outrace Sonic had ended up as a star-shaped something underneath the sole of his sneaker, of course, but somehow the hedgehog doubted that this tactic would work today. The fact that the legs alone were thrice as long as him had been a clue in that.

"No worries, Knux, I'll sort this one out!" Sonic called over his shoulder before dashing off in hot pursuit. Both hedgehog and scorpion were gaining distance rapidly, even while Knuckles raced to catch up.

As soon as Sonic thought he'd gotten close enough for another hit, he pushed himself off the ground, intending to spin-dash one of the eyes on the second stinger this time.

It didn't work out.

Pain was a cruel teacher and the beast had learned fast. As soon as Sonic was within its range, the other stinger rose high up into the air, and soared down to impale the blue spike ball in mid-jump like so much shish kebab. The hedgehog sensed the danger just in time. With a gasp, Sonic uncurled and uprighted himself in mid-flight, twisting sideways to evade the poisonous barb. He only succeeded partially. The spike raked across his lower abdomen from the navel to the hipbone, making Sonic hiss with pain.

"Master!"

"It´s allright, Shahra, I´m fine!" the hero called back, which was only half of a lie. He was hurt, yes, and it bled like his body had decided to water the ground and grow red roses in the desert, but the wound was only surface-deep and didn't hinder him from running.

It still made him feel highly vulnerable as he landed and raced off again, though. Even if Sonic fought often and had the scars underneath his fur to prove it, he didn't get caught a lot. His last wound had been over a year ago and _that_ had been Shadow trying to kill him.

_Guess you wouldn't forgive me if I let that overgrown poison puppy injure me more than you did, huh, Shads? _

They were now within the abandoned city, dashing through one of the broader streets. On the left and right, the huge body of the scorpion tore down bits and pieces of buildings and masonry as they rushed past, creating a hail of deadly projectiles that Sonic had to dodge in his chase.

Time for another tactic.

The blue hero let himself fall back, revved up a spin-dash on the ground this time and shot forwards. The stingers impacted inches from the curled-up form zig-zagging on the sand, but the beast hadn't taken into account that Sonic on the ground was even faster than Sonic in the air.

A satisfying crack was heard as one of the legs gave way when the spin-dash tore right through it.

"Hah! That should slow you-_WOAH!"_

Sonic had just gotten to his feet again and wanted to survey the damage, but was knocked to the ground as two of the remaining legs on that side came down with enough force to crack bones. The beast reared once more and then took off again, his speed barely diminished.

"I _hate_ fighting stuff with more legs than brain cells."

_Mental note: _Ask Knux whether that would apply to him, too.

_Mental note II: _Do that when perfectly healthy and out in the open, though.

And even as small trickles of scarlet ran through his blue fur, Sonic grinned.

xxx

Knuckles had arrived at the city. Although both of the fighters were faster than him, the scorpion thing was darting away in such an erratic pattern that it was easy enough to follow, if you kept in a straight line. Apparently there was pandemonium going on a few blocks from where he was standing, but he could only hear and not see it over the high houses to either side of him. With a grunt, the echidna lunged and clung to a wall which he climbed up speedily. By the sounds of it, there was either a Death Metal concert or a demolishing company present.

xxx

Living things. Sonic hated fighting against living things.

"Sonic, watch out!" Shahra called and he evaded a splattering purple blob only at the last second.

"It has started to shoot poison! If you get hit, it will paralyze you and then dissolve your innards!"

_Mental memo_: Teach Shahra that there´s also information one can do _without_.

He dodged two more projectiles, along with another wayward building piece. The scorpion was moving along almost as fast as Shadow and heaven knew it was difficult to score a hit on _him._ Furthermore, Sonic was attuned to the way the black hedgehog moved and fought, but the jerky motions of the insect monster were completely alien. As another bit of a house rocketed past him, though, a light suddenly went on in his eyes.

_Just you wait. We all can use the terrain to our advantage._

xxx

With a last heave, Knuckles pulled himself easily onto the top of one of the famous Arabian towers with the round, knobbly top bits.

Be quiet. Angel Island doesn´t have much in the way of architecture.

The echidna stood up and squinted over the city in the midday heat. To his feet, the ancient metropolis was spreading out like a spider web of small alleys in framed by rows of lehm coloured rectangle houses, each one not higher than two storeys at the most, the lower ones with flat roofs, the temples and public buildings high, with colourful pointy peaks. It didn't compare to the splendour of the palace, but the market place down south with its colourful tarpaulins, the glistening river flowing through the middle of it still in this heat and the various decorations like lazily circling wind chimes or chalk paintings on the walls of houses made it very appealing nonetheless. The streets were completely deserted, but still the noise level more than made up for any missing occupants.

Because, sure enough, only three or four blocks further south, Sonic and the scorpion were giving it their all. Both were still moving with an energy that suggested the fighting was fierce, even if no devastating blows had been dealt yet.

Which did not apply to the city. The monster was cutting erratic turns, racing through ever new alleys and sometimes took the entire upper half of buildings off. It didn't look very good for a quarter of the abandoned capital.

Then again, that was actually nothing special. When Sonic was involved, he had already managed to

1) completely flood Station Square,

2) Detonate half of the moon,

3) And, most of all, crash the Death Egg on _my Island._

(Of course only one of these events had been actively Sonic's doing, and none of them his fault. But where the Guardian was concerned – and if in a sufficiently bad mood – Sonic could be blamed for anything and everything up to, and including, taxes and global warming.)

Oh, and then there had been that little matter with the tear in the space-time continuum where no one was really sure what exactly had happened.

All in all, Knuckles mused, having only a _few_ blocks of houses destroyed when the hedgehog was saving your civilization was probably not such a bad deal.

xxx

Sonic shot into the air once again, but he wasn't aiming for the scorpion. Instead, he grabbed the pole of a still-standing petroleum street lantern, swung around on it, bounced off a wall, landed on the tarpaulin of a stall to be flung into the air, bounced off a second wall, and _then_ aimed for the scorpion.

The insect monster stood as much of a chance as a jellyfish in a pinball machine.

Sonic whirled, and the eye on the second stinger was gone.

No, Sonic didn't like fighting against living things. In addition to the fact that he hated to hurt anything that could feel pain, it was also so much _harder_. Robots could kill you, but they were predictable. Flight paths of rockets became familiar. Metal joints would only bend _one_ way. Yes, robots were predictable.

They didn't suddenly turn around and sprout instead of a head another giant eye surrounded by _teeth. _

For example.

"_Shahra!_What the heck _is_ that thing?!"

Before the genie could utter a reply, the eye _dislodged_ itself from its place in the rump and shot towards Sonic like attached to a whip. Years of survival instinct (and the strong wish to be able to collect some more years still) was the only thing that saved the hedgehog. While his mind was still reeling at the impossibilities of this thing, his legs had already carried him far off. The teeth, which enclosed the eye just as lashes would, clamped shut over thin air and the beast growled, calling back the floating monstrosity to the empty socket.

No mouth. No mouth, but an eye with teeth.

"This is sick! Seriously, does that Erazor have some _other_ problem I don't know about?!"

They were racing again, Sonic not only having to avoid the falling masonry, chunks of poison, and stingers, but also a flying concoction that looked like Black Doom personally had had a field day engineering it.

"Shahra! Can´t you do something about it with your magic?" Sonic had tried spin-dashing again, but now it was next to impossible to get close to it. And he could feel himself getting weaker, the blood loss and dehydration finally gaining.

"I´m so sorry, Sonic, my magic is just no match for that of the Erazor Djinn…" Shahra looked crestfallen and panicked at same time. Sonic winced as another lash from the stingers cut across his collarbone, dangerously close to his neck. The hedgehog was still fairly confident he could take it down – but had no idea how bad he would look afterwards. His genie looked ready to do something desperate, though, and Sonic didn't like it.

"Hey, Shahra! Remember what I said earlier about you smiling? Don't look so glum, I'll deal with it! And that's not an order, it´s a promise from me to you!" He flashed her a grin to show that the had already fought with worse enemies than the scorpion, and for a moment it seemed to work.

But that still left the question how he should actually _fulfil_ that promise…

Then something caught his attention at the edge of his vision. Sonic´s mind, which was possibly the only component of his body that could work even faster than his legs, immediately evaluated what it had seen and presented a plan to the hedgehog.

Sonic smirked.

The two eyes on the stingers were already blind. This limited the field of observation of the monster somewhat, so Sonic thought he had a chance. The scorpion was still running away from him and that he could use as an advantage...

Another perfectly executed bounce off a nearby wall on the left forced the monster to change direction, and race through another alley that branched off to the right. They were now getting closer to the mosque which the hedgehog had just seen and were about to dash past it…when Sonic suddenly collapsed.

The scorpion stopped. Then, with an almost gleeful quivering, it came closer to the prone form lying on the sand, and raised a stinger to strike. Small mammals overheated so fast, didn't they…

Knuckles dropped on top of the thing like a ton of bricks.

Or rather, like 88 pounds of ticked-off echidna jumping down from a tower, which for the scorpion in question was so much worse.

The thing arched its back at the unfamiliar passenger, but to no avail. The Guardian, while issuing something close to a war-cry, was holding on with one hand like a monster rodeo rider, drawing the other back and curling it into a fist.

The big eye on the back swivelled sickeningly, narrowing its iris in panic as two white spikes came into focus very clearly and most of all, very _close. _

Knuckles _punched_.

It was not a pleasant experience.

"Ewwww! Knux! It sprayed in all directions, that's _disgusting_!" Sonic had climbed to his feet again, but was grinning as he complained.

The beast had only convulsed for one last time, but then collapsed dead onto the sand, life leaving it as soon as the biggest eye had been destroyed. If Knuckles and Shadow had one thing in common, besides the high-and-mighty attitude, it was probably the fact that they could both kill quickly and efficiently, when they had to, Sonic thought.

The echidna shrugged. "If Erazor made that thing, it was shoddy handiwork."

Extracting himself from the gooey mess he was standing in, he added: "And talking about looks, have you seen yourself in a mirror yet?"

"Why, what-?" Sonic looked down at himself and understood. The blood that had been flowing out of his various cuts had been pretty much evenly distributed over his entire body during the curling and spin-dashing. The gashes themselves were already starting to scab, but right now Sonic looked ready to star in 'I Really Still Know Perfectly Well What You Did Last Summer, Thank You Very Much' Part IV, furry version, playing the role of the first victim filmed in close-up.

"…oh. Well. Never thought I´d say that, Knux, but right now I really feel like I could use some water. At least that means it washed out any poison from the wounds, I guess…"

"Look! The monster is dissolving!" Shahra had appeared from her ring again into which she had vanished in shock as the monster prepared to kill them. The Mobians´ heads turned and their eyes grew slightly wider as the whole repugnant corpse of the scorpion started to glow and then finally exploded into dozens of shining light balls, much like the henchmen of Erazor earlier.

"…okay. Guess that's that." Knuckles managed, dusting his hands off. Sonic´s attention was already elsewhere, though.

"Shh. Can´t you hear it?"

The echidna frowned. "Hear what? And shouldn't we be looking for that dinosaur?"

"There´s someone screaming in the city." Sonic's ears were turned towards the side and had opened wide.

Knuckles strained his listening. Over the rushing of the desert winds and the slowly crumbling buildings, suddenly he heard it, too.

"_No…NO! Please! Stay away! Someone, please, HELP ME!" _

Sonic was gone in a millisecond. Knuckles, for the third time that day, had been left standing in the dust, but right now he didn't mind.

Because, just like Sonic, he had recognized the owner of this voice almost instantly.

Tails.

* * *

...whew. Well, I promised I'd update faster if I got a lot of reviews, right? ;) Hope you liked the fight in this one, never wrote a real battle scene before...

Credit for Erazor's daisy lair goes to Rebell, btw. I laughed a lot when I read that in her review.

_**Next up: **_**"Grateful Ali Baba" - Two Tails, Two Minds **

Get ready for some major expositionary dialogue, and please review!


	11. Two Tails, Two Minds

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this game, I wouldn't have changed a thing about the two CGI scenes. The graphics kick ass, seriously.

**Ri2:**Well, Shahra's probably more of a traditionalist. ;) I was more or less playing around with the question 'Wth is a _dinosaur _doing in the Arabian Nights?!' and this explanation popped up. XD Glad you liked the boss fight – in the game it was fun, though. At least that scorpion couldn't go GET A LOAD OF THIS!!! at me, so I was glad…'course Tails is gonna show up! Too cute to be left out. Thanks for the nice review:)

**crimson-obsidian-rose:**Heh, thanks!(blushes) I'm happy you thought the battle scene well-written.As for a Sonic comedy series – well there's this one called 'Tails explains' by Dragonbreath1, which is pretty funny…there are a few ideas floating around in my head for a parody TV show with them, though. Maybe sometime in Sonic Drabble Trouble:) No worries for Sindbad the Sailor – I laughed my head off when I met him, so he's gonna show up for sure! XD

**azngirlchibi:** Really? Different how:) Yeah, I was wondering how to set the scene – but Knux needed something to jump down from, so major destruction in the Capital was the way to go. XD Thanks a lot for the review, now on to meet with the cutest side-kick there is:P

**MegaHog14:**Heheheh, glad you liked the humour, I try. :) Naaw, Sonic's not gonna lose to that thing – this boss was ridiculously easy, I fought him ten times to get the movements for the last chappie down, and the last time only took me thirty seconds. :D But there's harder battles up ahead…;) Thanks for commenting!

**Nintendo Mania: **(blushes) Thanks!! Yeah, I missed the spin-dash, too .- Sonic, what happened to you?! You just gotta love small devils – maybe he'll show up again? ;)

**Feniiku:**Thanks:D Yeah, doing descriptions is fun…especially of pink things. XD

**Robin Moto: **Heh, glad you two are enjoying the story. Updates will continue to be regular, now worries, this fic almost writes itself! Of course, if you like this story, you could always check out my other sonic /yugioh stuff in between…;) Thanks for pointing out your favourite passages, that's usually really helpful to me. :) I take it you haven't played the game, then? More surprises for you that way! Thanks for the nice comment!

**BoomTheHedgehog:**(snorts) you have a way of putting things, dude…XD loved it! Well, as for 'I still know perfectly well…' it's a reference to the 'I know what you did last summer', 'I STILL know what you did…' and 'I'll ALWAYS know etc' slasher movie series. I figured if they were going to do part four the title should sound something like this, it's really getting ridiculous…thanks for the review:)

**TheWestWind:**Thanks! Hmm, will my second favourite character make an appearance? Well, just read on to find out…;) Sindbad will be interesting, yeah…I can already picture the scene, but that's probably still a few chapters from now. Knuckles will be jealous, his alternate self gets more mentions in the reviews than him! XD

**Si Fron Dimensional Creator: **(blushes) Wow, thanks!! Glad you like this fic and my writing style. :) No plans to be an author yet, but if I ever do write a book, I'll probably advertise it on my profile. XD Be careful of falling echidnas with your scorpion, though…;)

**The Conflicted Writer: **Now, whoever said Shadow was gonna show up? (grins) Or is he? Yeah, inventing explanations for the most random stuff is always fun…I love explaining plot holes. ;) More character interaction to follow this chappie, hope you like and thanks for the nice comment!

**Ember Rock: **Heheheh, know the feeling…still, it's the teacher's fault if they let us access the internet, isn't it? That's the second review asking for mini demon Sonic…so there's a definite chance for him. Erazor does seem to have a problem with colour perception, methinks…XD. Hmm, more Shahra moments coming up this chappie! And I also think she'd really need your hug at this point. And you think you know the game plot? Be prepared to be surprised…;) Thanks for that awesome review!!

**WhipOwnsAll:**Thanks! Welcome aboard, Mr. Rabbit!;)

**NaughtyGirl93:**Well, I promised to, didn't I?:) Glad you liked the description, I usually try to watch out for that. :) Thanks for the review, they really make me write faster. :D

**Rebell:**Oh yeah, the break-dancing little angel – in the game, when you finish a mission Sonic sometimes does a break-dance, so I thought his mini conscience probably would, too. XD And now for our two-tailed cutie...

**Author's note: **Well, this chappie is going to be a little bit different from the others. Next one is going to resume the light-hearted adventure tone, though, but I'd really like to know what you think of this one. A little bit of drama, a little bit of Angst… – but for now, please read and enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 11: Two Tails, Two Minds **

"TAILS!"

Sonic was rushing at break-neck speed through the unfamiliar city, dodging around and jumping across minor obstacles, sprinting along on walls to the side or squeezing through tight gaps between houses, ever following the voice that had sounded so frightened.

"Tails! Tails, where _are_ you!"

The gaze of the hedgehog was swiveling around wildly, trying to take in every single detail as he was rushing along. Of course, in a world where everything was the hue of sand, it was just _typical_ your lost friend would have chosen gold as a fur colour.

"_Help…HELP_!"

His head flew around and Sonic leapt from the wall. He landed lightly on top of a low house and didn´t even touch the ground for one second before already smashing into a purple spirit with full force.

"You…leave…him…_the hell alone_!" Sonic grunted, each word punctuated by the sound of spikes as hard as diamond introducing themselves to monster-puppet skin and making a sharp first impression.

The hedgehog actually was acting more on instinct than on anything else. He hadn´t seen much at that first glance, just vaguely discerned three purple shapes surrounding and bearing down on a small cowering fox figure. It had short-circuited his 'big brother' impulse so badly, Sonic had leaped before even thinking about it.

The in-tray of his brain with filed complaints of his body concerning 'blood-loss', 'overheating', 'lack of food', 'lack of water' and 'Do you actually _know_ how hard we´re working down here for 1000 mph?!' was stuffed to the brim, but right now Sonic didn't even notice until the last of Erazor's monsters had been defeated.

Red sneakers dropped down on the flat roof of the small house they were standing on and, with a surprised cry, blue knees followed. Sonic was drawing a few shaking breaths on all fours as both fights slowly caught up with him. Blood caked his fur, red streaks running down his legs and staining his socks. His torso was tainted with crimson smears as well and there was even a patch on his cheek.

It was amazing how a simple spin-dash could ruin your entire get-up for the day. Nevertheless, he was grinning as he raised his head.

"Heya!"

"Oh, thank you! I thought I was done for!" Tails exclaimed, obviously joyously surprised. Sonic´s eyes widened. If Eggman had conquered a costume rental, Tails must have been there to become stewart afterwards.

It was the same two-tailed kit the hedgehog knew and loved, (and who even wore the same amazed yet _slightly_ worried smile that usually greeted Sonic after every new stunt) but he, too, had changed his appearance.

Atop his head sat something that reminded the blue hedgehog of half a cauliflower at first, but was actually a white, bandage-like turban, two amber ears and fur bangs protruding. Tails was also wearing a red vest of sorts, with a broad yellow and black striped sash tied around his waist underneath. In addition, two massive silver bracelets were clamped over his wrists, apparently holding the gloves in place.

Sonic briefly wondered whether Tails was trying to make a youthful fashion statement and whether he had maybe horribly neglected his older brother-duties in that department.

The fox' red and white shoes had become a little bit broader, but stayed mostly the same, except for the general pointy-tip fixation that seemed to apply to any and all footwear they had encountered in the book world so far.

Sonic raised an eye ridge. "No worries, li´l buddy, you know I´ll always come to save you, but…" he smiled slightly, "…not that I don´t appreciate you being okay, Tails, but what's with the get-up? And what are you doing here, too?"

Now it was the fox´s turn to be confused. His smile turned into a puzzled expression and he took a step back, not least because he was now becoming aware of the fact that the hedgehog looked like a walking exhibit of 'Why Not To Drink And Drive, Moron'.

"…'Tails'? My…my name is Ali Baba," he said, glancing worriedly at the martial appearance of the taller Mobian in front of him. Sonic wasn´t put off by the strange reply, though.

"Come on, Tails! I know it's you!"

"Eh…" the younger one replied, maybe wondering whether it wouldn't be better to agree, on the basic assumption that it wasn't wise to upset someone who was covered in blood and talking nonsense.

"I´m very sorry. My master seems to have mistaken you for somebody else," a suddenly appearing Shahra interrupted, smiling apologetically. The fox visibly relaxed, seemingly not in the least bit put off by a girl forming out of thin air. The interplay of mimics continued and the kit now gave both of them a friendly smile again while Sonic shot first Shahra and then Tails a look in confusion.

The fox chuckled. "Oh, it's okay. I´m still very grateful that you saved me! I might not be very strong, but I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. If you ever need my help in return, it would be the least I could do to repay you."

Shahra bowed, ignoring her master´s increasing puzzlement. "Thank you! If something comes up, we´ll be sure to call you. But now we must be going." She smiled, and tried to gently lead a bewildered Sonic away. They had only taken a few steps, though, when the kit called out a last 'See you! I hope we'll meet again, blue stranger!" and Sonic´s knees locked, the azure hero refusing to walk further despite Shahra´s ushering.

"Master? What's-?"

The hedgehog was already back with the kit, crouched on one knee in front of him so they were at eye-level, and the fox was blinking at the speed the older Mobian had moved with. Getting addressed as 'stranger' by Tails had been something Sonic had never expected to happen and in some way it had chilled him to the bone. The hero stared into those blue eyes concerned, his trademark grin vanished and his tone serious.

"Tails, how´d you get here?"

"Eh…" the fox, apparently ignoring the nickname for now, scratched his head. "Well, I just woke up yesterday and everybody had vanished, so I searched whether I couldn't find anyone in the city. Then those purple spirits started to appear and I hid in one of those houses…but _then_ there was terrible ruckus going on in the other part of the city, so I wanted to flee and left my shelter – only to run straight into the arms of those three monsters! Thank goodness you were there," he finished, giggling nervously as it became apparent that this for some reason was not what the hedgehog had wanted to hear.

"Master, we really need to find that dinosaur now-" Shahra was tugging at Sonic´s shoulder who didn´t pay her any attention, still gazing at the young fox with an unreadable expression.

"Finally!" a voice grated behind them, "It didn´t cross your mind to _call_ for me and maybe make this wild-goose chasing after you any _easier_, did it, hedgeh- hey, you found Tails!"

A grumbling Knuckles had just dragged himself onto the roof as well, but now a slight smile had appeared on his face. Apart from the annoying tendency to revere the ground Sonic walked on, the kit was actually quite smart and not that bad to have around. At least having to think of someone younger in their team as well would hopefully get the blue maniac to reconsider his most insane plans of action in the future.

But Sonic didn´t even glance around to look at Knuckles and the tone of his reply let the smile vanish as soon as it had come.

"I dunno, Knux. I dunno whether I´ve found Tails."

The fox was now looking from one Mobian to the other, his nervousness growing as there were now _two_ people addressing him by that strange name. He backed away a little more.

"Uh, well, I think I´ll be going now – you´ve found your other friend, so you probably want to be on your way, right?"

Sonic stared at Tails, hurt. "Li´l bro…"

It was strange. When he´d met the King in the Palace, he had still been uncertain about whether or not that was Robotnik – but now he was _sure_ this was Tails! Not only did that this little fox look just like his adopted younger brother, there was so much more. Sonic had been taking care of Tails for over five years now and practically watched him grow up. They had gone through heaven and hell together, and there was a bond between them that was probably stronger than any other feeling the hedgehog was capable of. He _knew_ him. This was Tails.

"…don´t you know me anymore?" he finished his question, while the fox had been seemingly mesmerized by the intensity of the hedgehog´s gaze. In the kit´s eyes suddenly flashed something resembling a question and he opened his mouth slightly, but no words came out.

"Please, Tails, if you recognize me, remember me, just say something! Anything! Have you completely forgotten about me? Knuckles? Your workshop? Eggman? It _is_ you, right?" Sonic pressed, his hands gripping the shoulders of the small fox tightly. Frightened, the little one took one reflexive step back, the spark in his eyes extinguished again as if it had never been there. Sonic´s arms fell limply to his sides while the fox now looked at him with nothing but worry and fear.

Wrong. He had been wrong.

"Sorry. I probably really thought you were somebody else."

Standing up and turning around to Knuckles, who had been watching the procedure with no small amount of confusion, the hedgehog addressed the echidna's shoes rather than his friend´s face. Swallowing, he finally managed: "I was…mistaken. Maybe we…maybe we should really get going."

For Shahra, who had been biting her lips during the entire scene, this desolate appearance of her master seemed to be the last straw in an inner battle. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath to call out to the slumped form of the retreating blue hero, but someone cut her off.

"Son…Sonic?"

The hedgehog whirled around, all of his energy returned and his eyes shining with new hope as he beheld the small fox who now seemed more confused than ever.

"Tails! It´s you! I wasn't wrong after all!"

"N..no…my name is…Ali Baba… but how do I know your name, I…and yours, too…" the kit had been pointing first to Sonic and then to Knuckles, both of them exchanging alarmed glances as Tails started clutching his head and groaning.

"Shahra, this _is _my buddy Tails! Why doesn´t he recognize me? What´s going on!"

"Scratch that, are you able to help him?" Knuckles had pushed the agitated hedgehog aside, staring up at Shahra and trying to keep the situation in check, while behind him, even the kit was working himself up.

"Who are you? Who am _I_?"

The little fox was calling out to them, looking scared and very lost, like a figure of a fantasy novel who had suddenly found himself aboard the Enterprise. Shahra, who was now under siege by two excited, questioning sapients appeared very panicky herself. She had floated higher than the pair and was shielding her face with her arms as if she was under attack.

"It´s – it´s the story, master! It has changed his mind!" she blurted out, eyes squeezed tightly shut, immediately silencing the entire hubbub.

"What?" three Mobian mouths had asked the same question. The genie slowly opened her eyes again, though the tension had by no means left her body.

"I…have to apologize. I lied to you. I knew that some of your companions might very well be in the book.You can punish me, if you want."

"Shahra, I don´t want to punish you. I want my li´l bro to be himself again. Please, tell me what´s going on!" Sonic urged, no fury, but only honest concern in his words.

The genie sighed. "Remember what I said about the stories absorbing people, characters from your world into them because they´re desperate to fill the gaping plot-holes Erazor left in his rampage?"

"I would be hard-pressed not to remember a fifty-feet drop, let alone some unspecified joker landing on top of me."

Knuckles had his arms crossed and the expression on his face was less than friendly. That genie had just admitted that she´d lied to them and there was scarcely a worse crime you could commit in the echidna´s book.

(Well, breaking the Master Emerald might count. Or stealing it. In fact, don´t even _touch_ it, punk. But on non-Emerald matters, lying was pretty much one of the sure ways to get on Knuckles' bad side, and the genie had just arrived there with the express train.) Sonic might have all the patience in the world when it came to erring little sheep, the Guardian thought, but in his case, the damn thing would be more likely to stay out in the woods until it had learned its lesson or got eaten by wolves. Or preferably both. He scowled at Shahra, who cringed.

"So where´s this gonna lead? I want some straight answers this time, not some fairy-tale nonsense, genie. Is he Tails or not? And why didn´t you tell us in the first place?"

Sonic winced. Knuckles had this habit of referring to someone by species when he was angry and the hedgehog could tell the echidna was upsetting an already distraught Shahra even more.

"Hey Knux, don´t be so harsh on her, she´s just-"

"No, no, he´s right," the girl replied, her voice quiet and her eyes downcast. "If you don´t want to help me after this, I understand."

"Well, I need to first hear what it _is_, you know? Please, Shahra."

"Very well," she said, seemingly composing herself, "It´s a bit like this: The wounded and incomplete stories sucked _him"_ – she indicated the surprised fox in the background – "into the book. Your friend Tails. But once he was there, he still wasn´t exactly what the stories needed. They wanted to repair themselves…so they required characters that fit. They changed his mind so he _became_ the character - the protagonist of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, because the tale must go on.

"The stories don't think like you and me, you see. They have no concept of right and wrong, they're just…_there_ and they try to survive," she finished, looking at them helplessly as both hedgehog and echidna tried to wrap their minds around that alien concept. Sonic couldn't help but be creeped out by the fact that he was right now _standing_ right in a potentially hostile _being_, while Knuckles pounced on the first thing that seemed important to him right now.

"So how come we're not yet…changed? Are we in danger?" he asked, resisting the impulse to shoot glances across his shoulders.

Shahra's features relaxed slightly. "No. We are currently following the Story of the Blue Hedgehog and he and his companions exist in there as themselves. As long as you stay in this story, no foreign tale will try to absorb you. And when the Arabian Nights are restored, nobody will get sucked into the book anymore at all!"

"Yeah, but what about Tails? He´s completely freaked, and I would be, too! We need to get him his memory back!" Sonic exclaimed, his impulse to help his friend pushing back any questions concerning the strange theory and Shahra´s breach of trust. "Can you do anything, Shahra?"

She nodded hesitatingly. "I can try. I don´t know whether it will work, I´m afraid. I draw my magic from the stories, but going against one-"

"Just do it, genie. You never warned us of that danger, never told us _anything_. I have half a mind of leaving your ring right here for some other poor sod to fall for your tricks, and right now it's only your hedgehog owner standing in the way. If you want to be of any help at all, just do this now." Knuckles' tone was scathing.

"First of all, Knucklehead, I´m not her 'owner', and secondly–" Sonic began heatedly, but was cut off as Shahra had already floated over to Tails, her face pained and her eyes shimmering with guilt.

"I'm very sorry for what has happened to you, Envoy of Inari," she whispered, "Will you let me try to help you?"

The fox, who had only now realized that she was speaking to him, blinked hastily, his gaze focusing on her as if she was the sole rope dangling from a ship of reason while he was drowning in waves of confusion.

"Help me?"

"Yes. Hopefully, you'll recall your real life and remember who you are again. You have right now taken Ali Baba´s place and _think_ you´re him, but you're not."

"…then who am I? Who is this Tails?" the small kit asked, before managing a little bit quieter, "And does he lead a happy life?"

Shahra nodded. "Very happy. I can assure you of that. You have a very, very kind brother. Will you let me try to help you?" she asked again, and the fox nodded, timidly.

The genie sighed in relief, before stretching her arms wide, and starting to mutter something under her breath. Almost simultaneously, the ring on Sonic´s finger started to glow.

"Woah! Shahra, what are you doing?"

The genie seemed to have entered a kind of trance, white, swirling light encircling her form and that of the fox kit, a thin streak of it shooting up to the sky like a kind of reversed lightning bolt, creating a bridge of brightness. The genie began to breathe hastily and to gasp, as if under extreme stress or pain.

The two Mobians behind her were watching the display with varying degrees of alarm showing on their faces. Sonic thought he could feel the ring pulsating, widening and narrowing minutely, like a desperately beating heart when the body is forced to endure too much. Knuckles next to him was staring ahead stoically, his gaze focused on the blurred form of the fox in the white light that had turned into a whirlwind, while his hands were clenched on his arms.

"Shahra!" Sonic called out in concern, as suddenly the ring went rigid again and a cold chill was sent down his spine. "Shahra!"

At the same instant, the whirlwind exploded outwards, and a single shining light ball shot away, while the connection to the sky evaporated. When the white winds had vanished, the genie girl wasn't there anymore. The Mobians rushed forward, dropping down next to the form of the fox still sitting on the stone roof, who was now glancing around as if seeing everything for the first time.

The kit blinked. "Sonic? Knuckles?"

"Kiddo!" Sonic buried the fox in a hug, disregarding the fact that there were now _two_ people with ruined fur present. "Shahra did it! You're back!"

"Back_ where?_" Tails asked while he returned the hug tightly. The hedgehog was right now the only familiar thing in this odd place and he very much wanted to cling to that.

"Back in your brain," Sonic answered, laughing and ruffling the golden head fur, while the fox only became ever more puzzled. Knuckles rolled his eyes. If you were stuck with the hedgehog trying to explain something, you usually ended up with more questions than answers, more jokes than you ever asked for, and often a headache that stuck for _hours_.

"_I'll_ tell the story, Sonic. Where's that genie of yours?"

"Shahra!" Sonic gasped, remembering her for the first time. "Where have you gone?!"

"_Only back into the ring, my master. Please give the Guardian and the Envoy my apologies." _

"What?" Sonic replied reflexively, only realizing that the girl had apparently spoken to him in his mind, when Tails and Knuckles were shooting him odd stares.

_Eh…can't you come out? This is kinda awkward… _he thought, hoping that the genie would hear him.

"_I´m sorry. Dispelling his fake memories and calling his real ones from your world, tearing him out of the other story, into this one…I almost_..._if the ring had…" she paused. "Right now I have barely the energy to maintain a conscious presence," _she finished, her voice sounding tired, but in no way accusing.

"Uh, this is bad guys," Sonic managed aloud, "Shahra is on the brink of exhaustion because it was so hard to bring Tails back. She's talking to me in my head right now."

The two-tail gave Knuckles a look. It asked all kinds of questions, not least whether his hedgehog friend might not have taken just a tiny bump to his spiked skull earlier. Knuckles shook his head, for once defending Sonic's sanity.

"It's not like you think, Tails…let me explain."

Knuckles took a deep breath before launching into an epic recap of the various (mis)adventures they had endured so far, why, according to Shahra, Tails had ended up in the book as well, and also why Sonic shouldn't stand underneath a smoke detector right now.

"So there really _is_ a flame on his chest." Tails smiled, sounding almost relieved. "I thought I was hallucinating, because nobody _else_ seemed to notice it…wow. That is some adventure we're on, right?" he asked, an uncertain half-grin on his face as he looked up at the Guardian. Tails was sort of semi-okay, at least. He still felt as if his brain had been wrung out and hung on the washing line as he was forced to take in so much at once, but in between Sonic and Knuckles, he at least felt safe and ready to face the unknown.

The hedgehog, meanwhile was still talking to Shahra, appearing to the rest of the world completely spaced out.

_But…I don´t __get__ it. How can a story even do that to Tails? Mess with his brain and stuff? _

He couldn´t see the genie in the darkness behind his eyes, but it was still to him as if her words carried a painful smile as she replied.

"_It´s not as strange as you might think. Stories, tales and legends change the minds the touch. They're good at that. Haven't you ever felt as if you were in the place of the protagonist? Haven´t __you__ ever thought differently after you've read a book that was special to you?"_

Sonic snorted mentally.

_Yeah, I have. It was called 'The Horrible Thing Drooling Under Your Bed' and changed my mind in a way that I couldn't sleep with the lights out until I was __six._

"_What happened to your friend was just the same, only here there is no reality to come back to."_

_That sounds…seriously freaky, _Sonic replied, pondering for a while before adding: _…there aren't any horror stories like that in the Arabian Nights, though, are there?, _his mental voice was carrying just that hint of worry that you still feel when you're already seventeen, but are home alone, have just finished reading Stephen King's 'IT' sometime late and suddenly find yourself face to face with your mother's ugly clown doll that you were sure hadn't been sitting on the couch before.

Shahra thought briefly about the tales where men died in searing oil, religious people got turned into fish to be fried and mothers poisoned their own adopted daughters.

"…_no. Not 'scary' in the way of the stories of your world, anyway." _

…_okay. And you say if we stick together and keep to __my __storyline, the one where I collect those rings, we won't lose our minds, right?_

"_Yes. Just make sure your friends are in the same chapter with you." _

_You´ve got some way to give directions, Shahra. But okay…_

Sonic's thought-voice paused here, before finally forming the question that was for the hero the hardest of them all.

_So why did you lie to me, Shahra?_

"_I…"_

_I appreciate that you saved Tails, don´t get me wrong. But I can't forget that you very nearly let me walk off and __leave him here! __Shahra! What were you thinking?! _

In a mental conversation, there was no real way to yell, yet Sonic could almost feel the presence of the genie stumble back as if lashed with a whip.

"_I…"_her words had no volume in this world where no senses existed, but it was rather the essence of whispering that Sonic felt, as she continued.

"…_I thought if I told you there might be friends from your world trapped in those stories here, that you…that you would rather try to search for them than go after Erazor Djinn. But please, listen to the rest!"_she added hurriedly, as if Sonic had made any attempt to interrupt her, _"There was never a doubt that they would come out of the book as soon as the Arabian Nights were restored and the real characters had returned! I even wanted to tell you the truth right now, but I was just so…frightened…especially when we found that man you knew in the Palace. I lied to you. I'm so sorry." _

Sonic sighed, the first part of the conversation that was also visible to Tails and Knuckles. He looked tired, in more ways than one, but one corner of his mouth was also twitching just slightly.

_You seem to apologize an awful lot, don´t you, Shahra? _

"_I´m sorry!"_

It said something for the hedgehog that he managed to resist the temptation to bash something very heavy against his head. Instead, he merely asked with more emphasis:

_Shahra, why don't you __trust__ me? I mean, what have I ever done to make you think I would completely __abandon__ you and your world as soon as something else popped up?!_

Sonic´s presence in their mental conversation flared in agitation, and before he could keep himself in check, the hedgehog already felt his…'spirit self' washing all over a cowering genie mind, and suddenly there were pictures. And voices. And feelings.

"_But…master! You promised!" _Shahra, calling and begging.

"_You should know that words one gives demons don't have to be kept, genie."_ An unfamiliar, cold, male voice. A ring being flung into a river from a boat, carelessly flipped by a hand.

"_That is not what I wished for! May you be cursed by fire!" _Another voice, this one old and female. A ring being hurled into a pot with molten metal and Sonic wasn't sure whether the pain was his or someone else's, whether he was the one screaming or if it was Shahra in agony…

"_You love him?! Don´t make me laugh! There's no love for slaves! He's MINE!" _a third speaker, this one young and male, laughing hysterically, and for a second Sonic felt as if the fire arrow had finally burned his heart to ash, as if there was only disappointment and despair now, even if he couldn't see anything or understand. No pictures had yet formed to go along with that last scene…and then suddenly the real world returned in the form of Knuckles, shaking him roughly by the shoulders.

"Sonic! Man, wake up, you're freaking us out!"

_To be continued..._

* * *

I was mightily annoyed. It looked like Tails, it talked like Tails, it_had_ two freakin tails, but noooo, of course it´s 'Ali Baba'…thanks, SEGA. 

On another note, what did you think? First drastic plot deviation since Knux showed up in chapter five. :P Confusing or understandable? A little bit of explanation to follow next chappie...and we return to the game story line!

**Next up: The Ring and the Prophecy - "I am supposed to be a _sacrifice?!" _**

Thanks for all your feedback so far and please review:D


	12. The Ring and the Prophecy

**Disclaimer: All your ring are belong to SEGA.**

**Antithesis:**Thanks:D Yup, there's actually even more backstory to Shahra planned – I think they didn't give her quite as much drama as they could have. Glad you liked that tidbit!

**Asher Tye: **Hi there and welcome aboard! No worries, despite the chapter title I won't continue my Horror-cabinet of Tails-versions with an added schizophrenic…XD The costume shall be briefly alluded to in this chapter as well, have you played the game, btw? Totally agreeing on the naming dictionary, too. Still, a dude that supposedly has magic powers and still insists on being pink probably doesn't deserve any better…;) Thanks for the review!

**D.C.111:**Of course I did, he's not been getting enough screen time so far! Plus, that Ali Baba costume was just too cute to miss out on…;) Don't worry, a little bit of explanation is to follow right now, plus some more Sonic-Tails stuff, these two have a lot to catch up on. :) The similes and metaphors…heh, I usually come up with them when I'm bored, jot them down in my notebook and they find their way into a fic sooner or later. (loves her notebook) Glad you still like the story, and thanks a lot for both of those comments!

**crimson-obsidian-rose:**(blushes) Thanks! Never had another screen name so far :) And you're right, most likely Sega weren't thinking at all. I mean can _you_ imagine seeing your best friend with amnesia and just _walk away? _Honestly… and yup, Shahra should definitely be grateful that Sonic is a lot more forgiving than Knuckles, but even he has his limits. And about Sindbad – heheheh, I wouldn't spoil that now, would I:P

**The Conflicted Writer: **What the Chaotix were doing aboard the ARK? Tsk, tsk, Conflicted…of course they needed to FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM! Sorry. Just had to say that. We-ell…if forced to come up with an explanation, I would probably write something about them being paid by GUN to, eh, maybe recover some lost data from aboard that spacestation…but an adaption of Shadow the Hedgehog is currently not in the works, sorry. For future projects please see profile. :P I do think that Sonic's meant to be Aladdin, though – not sure whether I'll tie that in here, but we'll see. Thanks for the review:)

**Robin Moto: **Yup, phrasing in general is my playground. :D Glad you like the idea of people getting sucked into stories – I thought there really was an explanation necessary for the sudden appearance of Tails in the real game. Thank your for commenting, some more about Shahra's past to follow, too. :)

**Ri2:**Yeah, what _am_ I gonna do for Sindbad? (grins) I'm glad Tails is back, too – writing Ali Baba is not as much fun. Plus, he has next to nothing with Ali Baba from the Arabian Nights, anyway. SEGA has weird ideas…

**Nintendo Mania: **If you want a clone story, I suggest Project Gemini – for me, writing one seems much too hard:D (Although I'm playing around with an idea like that – you can look at my profile:) ) "Taili Baba" is so CUTE! XD And no worries about Sonic's wounds – they'll be taken care of. Humour is back and kicking for this one, so please sit back and enjoy the ride! Thanks for the nice comment!

**Supercell:**Thanks! (blushes) But why would Knuckles be written out? If anyone, it's usually Tails that ends up killed with me…XD Nope, that echidna is second main character and here to stay:D

**Feniiku:**Yup, Darkspine will surely be interesting to say the least. :P And Sonic defending Tails – can you just feel the warm fuzziness! XD thanks for the review!

**JudasFm:**Corrections are in place, thanks for pointing them out:D The explanation of what on earth Tails is doing pretending to be Ali Baba in the game was sort of what started the entire fiction – glad you liked the explanation! Thanks a lot for the review and the help:)

**Rebell:**Hi there! Heh, you know me. If anyone is to be sacrificed, it's gonna be Tails. Just kidding…XD Nope, but the mystery shall be resolved in this chappie! I'm glad you liked the interaction, I haven't had that much experience with the two yet. As for the blue one being alright, I think a certain echidna will see to that…thanks so much for the awesome review! Please enjoy:D

**BoomTheHedgehog:**Heh, make a fanfic out of it? ;) And yeah, Robin Williams would probably be better than the entire 4kids cast put together…(dreamy sigh) anyway, glad you liked and thanks for commenting!

**Dragonbreath1:** Tormented Past ftw. I think Sonic on your side is marginally better than Chaos Blast…after all, you can still get dynamite if you really want to;)

**Si Fron Dimensional Creator: **Thanks! More plot twists to come, I promise…

**Ember Rock: **Heya! Wow, glad to hear that this was your fav chappie so far:D Emotion was interesting to write, after all the action – and hey, 'Sonic 2 betas'! (metaphorical cat ears perk up) what's this:D Also, some more Sonic&Tails stuff to come…thanks a lot for the review!

**keem:**Sindbad is planned, no worries! And Knuckles and Sonic will probably continue their antics and wouldn't stop if Erazor dropped a rock a on their heads…XD Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Ring and the Prophecy**

"Sonic! Man, wake up, you're freaking us out!"

"Wha…?"

"Sonic! Are you okay?!"

The blue hedgehog blinked several times until the rest of the world had decided to come into focus again. The frowning face of Knuckles and the worried expression of Tails over his shoulder greeted him and took up most of his view.

"Sonic! What's going on? First you were begging, then you were screaming and _then_ you almost started to cry!" Tails had pushed forward and placed his hands on Sonic's chest as he knelt next to him and stared into his face.

"…I did?" the azure hero blinked again, trying to sit up with the fox on top of him and to figure out what had just happened. His hand touched his cheek and Sonic looked at it surprised as he felt the wetness of a tear.

"I think I was in Shahra's memories…we were just talking and suddenly…it was as if our minds _mixed._ I sorta felt what she felt, I guess... I'm okay now, though."

"Shahra is the genie, right?" Tails asked, his eyes flashing with curiosity.

"Yeah. But she can't come out right now, because she's pretty weakened."

"So? And did she have any explanation for what she did?" Knuckles asked curtly from where he had stood up again after Sonic was confirmed conscious and okay.

"Sort of." Sonic swallowed. He wasn't sure how much exactly he could say without telling them anything Shahra might rather keep quiet, but he didn't want the echidna to think the worst of her, either.

"…from what I saw, she's been treated pretty badly by some of her masters in the past. I was screaming because her ring had been thrown into…into _molten metal_," he said, making Tails wince as he imagined the pain of a thousand degrees' burn encasing your entire body. Knuckles' face didn't move, but Sonic had spent enough time with the echidna to know that his friend could and did care, even if he didn't show it as much.

"And they apparently also broke promises to her – I couldn't make much sense of the rest, but I think that's why she thought we might also abandon her and her world if she told us that there were also others that got sucked in and just search for _them_."

"Hmph." Knuckles had crossed his arms, obviously still not quite convinced, while Tails' eyes had turned wide. The Guardian had mentioned in his retelling the enslaved djinn in the river and the gate they had come across, but he had never imagined that masters would actually abuse their genies so.

"…and I also think she nearly killed herself while bringing Tails back," Sonic added quietly and there were a few seconds of silence.

"Did she?" For the first time, the echidna's face had moved as he raised an eyebrow.

"She didn't say it like that, but…at one point I was nearly sure the ring would break. She was really risking everything she had to repair the damage she caused, Knuckles."

Knuckles gazed at Sonic. In echidna culture, it was only normal to risk your own life if you were trying to correct a mistake that brought shame upon you and endangered others. But over the years he had learned that this was something not very spread in any surface codes of honour…well, at least the girl knew how to draw the consequences of her actions. That was something that spoke for her case…

Anyone watching the echidna really closely at this point might have noticed the tiniest nod of approval.

In a slightly warmer tone, he asked: "So you're still planning to help her, then?"

Sonic nodded. "Yes. I even gave her my promise."

Knuckles leaned against a wall with one hand. "And that is supposed to reassure me, because we all know how well it turned out the _last_ time a hedgehog gave a promise to a helpless girl."

"Don't let that hedgehog hear that, or he'll Chaos Control you to next week." Tails muttered, while Sonic snorted, all of them glad that the tension had evaporated.

_Heh, hear that, Shahra? Even Knucklehead seems to have forgiven you. Happy now? _

"_Very, Master," _the reply rose from the darkness, a faceless smile emerging with it.

_Again with that 'master' thing, Shahra? And about those things that I saw…those were your memories, weren't they? _

"…_yes. They were." _her voice was still clear, but Sonic imagined it had suddenly gained a faint tremble.

_I, eh, told the others about them…was that alright? I just wanted them to understand you. Even if I'm not sure I even understood what __I__ saw. _

"_They were…things I experienced under earlier masters…a genie is usually not supposed to tell new masters what they saw or heard in their previous service, but…" _ she halted for a few seconds, _"…but you always deny that you're my master, so I guess that counts as a loophole, doesn't it?" _

Sonic had to chuckle. The voice just now had given him the impression of a twinkle in Shahra's eye…

"_The first was an alchemist who had promised me freedom if I served him faithfully and didn't tell his enemies about his secrets – which is always the risk with genies, you know? I did as I was told, but when he had used his three wishes…" _

Sonic swallowed. He had a kind of feeling what would come next.

"…_he threw my ring into the river, so I would __never__ be able to talk to a living soul again, because he still feared my knowledge. It was a hundred years until I was found by a fisherman. A hundred years at the bottom of the River of Kings." _

The blue hedgehog's eyes widened. Being confined was one of the worst things imaginable for the freedom-loving speedster and being trapped for a hundred years in darkness…

"_The second one was an old, rich woman. She had once been very beautiful, but age had consumed her…she wished for eternal beauty and life."_

_What happened? _

"_Eternal life I cannot grant and the very being of beauty is its transience…and so I failed. I couldn't fulfil her wish and she threw me into the fire. My ring is indestructible by heat, but we genies feel the pain when our physical link to the world is burned by flames."_

Sonic was silent. He tried to find words, but couldn't think of any that could possibly provide comfort. And he didn't even dare to ask about that _third_ vision.

"_The world is not kind to us magic creatures." _

_I know Shahra, and if there's anything I can do, I-_

"_I can feel your compassion. That alone is something of a treasure to me…thank you, Sonic." _

_Anytime, Shahra. _

"Tails, _you_ think of something. Right now I'm tempted to break one of his legs just so he'll acknowledge us."

"Don't!"

"Huh?" Sonic's eyes widened as reality had not only knocked twice but was now threatening to break down his door. "Was I spacing out again?"

"You were," Knuckles confirmed. "Which would be such a pity since Tails just told us that there's food in this house."

Never had focus been regained so fast.

xxx

The house actually consisted of two storeys. There was the ground floor, but the roof they were standing on was more or less a terrace to the upper level – a single room had been built on top of the first storey, and it was obviously used as a kind of storage place for preserveable goods, containing several sacks, bags and ceramic pots in its dark corners.

"Neat! I'm really glad you knew there was something like that here, I'm completely starved!" Sonic grinned, while Tails had gotten out curiously flat-shaped bread loaves, dried fruits and even some stringy, but aromatic, smoked meat.

"Thanks. I can't remember much of my time as 'Ali Baba', but for some reason I definitely still know where the food is." Tails laughed, glad to be able to help.

"I also found a barrel of water," Knuckles announced, heaving some impossibly heavy container out of the trapdoor that led to the lower storey. "And especially you with that blood loss should drink some, Sonic."

"Knuckles has recently decided to become my new mum, y'know?" Sonic asked Tails, winking, causing the young fox to giggle and the echidna to scowl.

"Fancy me retelling your heroic tale of the fig incident, hedgehog?"

"…maybe we should just eat!" Sonic interjected hurriedly, before Tails' expression could become too curious for his liking.

xxx

"…so that Erazor was all like: It's not pink, it's _maroon!_ And I was like: Yeah, right, and Eggman is physically attractive, Barbie Boy, and then he _really _got mad, and went all psycho on Shahra, and actually _shot_ her, can you believe it, shot her, and…and I jumped in the way. Yeah."

Tails eyes were wide, but that was not really unusual when somebody had just talked for twenty minutes straight without even pausing for breath.

They had decided to stay here in the shade of the terrace until the midday heat had passed and use the time to fill in the gaps in each other's background info, a job to which Sonic took with much more enthusiasm than actual accuracy. Knuckles had been downstairs for a while, leaving when the hedgehog had gotten to the part where he minutely described just what kind of rude persons echidnas could be in the morning, and had only returned now, sitting down without a word.

Tails scratched his ear.

"…so why didn't you just wish her away from harm instead when he shot that arrow?"

There was a brief silence. Sonic stared. Knuckles marvellously gave the impression of face-faulting without actually doing so.

"Okay, so _maybe _I didn't think of it at that time. It would be unfair if someone was as good-looking as me _and_ as smart as you, I guess." the hedgehog grinned, indicating his now clean and wet glistening torso, pretending not to hear Knuckles' snort. One of the barrels of water downstairs had already been opened and stagnant, so the blue hero had used that to finally wash away the crusted blood and restore his original peach and blue fur colour. The two large gashes across his collarbone and lower abdomen were still bleeding slightly, but at least the hedgehog by now had ceased to look like a 'really realistic!' crash test dummy.

The water hadn't done anything to help get rid of the flame, though. Back in the Palace garden, when Knuckles hadn't been looking, Sonic had already tried to extinguish it with normal water, acting more out of curiosity than actual hope. But the liquid had just gone straight through the fire…Sonic unconsciously scowled at the memory, but refused to let that stupid arrow spoil his good mood when he had finally found Tails again.

xxx

"So you really remember _everything_ now, li'll buddy? Like my birthday party and stuff?" the blue hero asked casually a little bit later, while he was still trying to chew down a piece of meat that seemed a little bit reluctant to be eaten.

"Yup. You got that book from Amy and I borrowed it." Tails nodded.

"And the rest? Us going after Robuttnik for the first time?"

"Yes."

"The Biolizard?"

"_Yes."_

"That time when you were six and had managed to tie your tails into one big knot that took me all afternoon to get sorted out?"

"Sonic!" the fox squeaked indignantly, while the hedgehog snickered, even if there was no maliciousness in his grin. Tails crossed his arms and pouted.

"Maybe you should ask him whether he also recalls that time when I threw you into a tree and you got stuck upside down in the trunk with your quills, unable to get off?" Knuckles interrupted, his tone sounding as sweet and innocent as a snickering rat in your muesli bowl.

"What! I really can't remem-"

Sonic had whirled around, his expression now slightly panicky, when Tails also chimed in.

"Oh yes, I remember! You had been arguing at that barbecue night, and when Sonic was wriggling around on that tree trying to get down, suddenly Amy showed up, and _then-_"

"Stop- stop ganging up on me!"

"…it was just like in _Spiderman_!" the young fox was snickering his little head off upon recalling Sonic's face at that particular moment…right until the quick fingers of his adopted older brother found his ever-sensitive sides, and the laughter quickly became giggling and squealing to be let go.

"How's_that _for spiders, huh, kiddo? How's that?" Sonic asked, who, like most best friends, knew _exactly _where those most ticklish spots of yours were located. It took a whole two minutes of amber-furred pandemonium until finally a desperate fox managed to scramble free, promising never _ever_ to bring that subject up again. Sonic, of course, knew just as well as Tails that the fox' fingers had been crossed during that particular promise, but even the hedgehog was not cruel enough to continue the torture at this point.

"…maybe we should continue?" Sonic asked instead, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye and turning around to Knuckles again, who had watched the whole display without moving. Now he stood up.

"Shortly, yes. But we'll have to disinfect your wounds first."

"Huh?" the hedgehog glanced down at the various scarlet cuts on his body, but didn't look too concerned when he returned his gaze to Knuckles.

"Eh, thanks, Knux, but I don't think that'll be necessary. I heal pretty fast."

"That wasn't an offer, Sonic."

The hedgehog started to frown. "Hey, chill, dude. I just washed them, they're okay."

The echidna shook his head. "You think they're okay after you just cleaned yourself with water that could have stood there and festered for Chaos knows how long. Tell you what, it's hard enough to put up with your usual nonsense, I'm _not_ going to wait with what stuff you come up if you start talking in fever. Now lay down so I can treat your wounds."

Sonic opened his mouth to protest angrily, but closed it again when he caught the eye of the Guardian. It said something along the lines of 'Lay down _now_ or else I'll give you reason to', of course, but there was also something else, which very nearly made Sonic grin. Could Knuckles actually be _concerned_ about him for once?

_Remarkably. And I didn't even turn green and shiny first. _

"I think you should let Knuckles disinfect them," Tails voiced his opinion. "He's right, your wounds becoming inflamed this far from any hospital would be really bad."

"That your way of getting your revenge on me, bro?" Sonic asked, the edges of his mouth twitching, but then raised his hands in mock surrender from his sitting position. "But okay, you got me convinced. Now what do you actually plan on doing, Knux? I'm warning you, though, if fire plays into that scheme of yours, I'm not even going to consider it."

"No, it doesn't. I'll be right back." Knuckles rolled his eyes, before shortly vanishing downstairs again and coming back up with a bowl of water. "I made a fire in the cooking place downstairs and boiled this. It should be clean enough for our purpose," he explained, before taking off his gloves and fishing out once again the bandages, and also a small plastic bag with a reddish-brown substance in it. Tails pointed at it.

"Hey, isn't that-"

"Yes. It is." Knuckles nodded, before Sonic interrupted.

"Is_what?"_

"Povine Iodide."

"Great, Knux, now I know everything. I'm not gonna let you pour some random stuff over my cuts, forget it." The hedgehog crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed now.

"It's just a marketplace antiseptic in pulverized form, Sonic," Tails explained cheerfully to his frowning friend, "Knuckles found the recipe for some ancient 'healing powder' from his people somewhere in those ruins and he took it to me to let it analyze it. Turned out to be mainly this Iodine compound with some herbs mixed in to let any wounds close faster." The fox sounded quite proud at his own achievement in that tale, before he continued: "It's actually rather useful to be carried around on expeditions, because you just need to dissolve it in clean water."

"Which is what I've just done now." The echidna remarked, standing up and walking over with the water in the bowl now having changed colour. "Ready?"

"Do I actually have a choice?" Sonic asked from where he was obediently lying on his back, hands laced behind his head, sounding half annoyed and half amused.

"Good question. No," Knuckles replied as he knelt down next to the tan and blue body, a handkerchief soaked with the substance dripping in his hand. "Now hold still…"

The liquid made contact with the slashed skin and Sonic gasped, his hips involuntarily bucking at the pain. Knuckles' second hand pressed down on his rib cage, the echidna's iron strength keeping him from instinctively twisting away.

"Ouch! I wanted my wounds clean, not my entire lower body amputated…" Sonic grumbled through gnashed teeth, still slightly squirming in the echidna's grasp while the red-furred hand continued to apply the disinfectant on his wound, ignoring his protests. Tails winced at the discomfort of his blue friend, but knew enough about Povine Iodide to be aware that the positive far outweighed the negative on this point.

Knuckles had now moved on to the gash on Sonic's collarbone and the echidna could feel every muscle underneath the blue fur tense as the hedgehog's head had already twisted away from the unwelcome sensation.

"What's the matter, Sonic? Usually you take pain better than this," Knuckles asked casually, while using an additional knee to hold the hedgehog still as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I do in fights. When I have to hold still to let you torture me – and I have a feeling you're enjoying this – it's a different matter, though," Sonic replied, his voice somewhat muffled where Knuckles' hand was pressing his cheek lightly against the stone to get a better access to his neck area, where the gold ring Sonic was collared with was making things somewhat difficult.

Finally, though, the echidna had finsihed and sighed. "You're impossible, hedgehog."

"Thanks. I try." Sonic had sat up as soon as Knuckles had got off him and even managed a small grin while the echidna had grasped his wrists and was now just swishing the cloth once perfunctorily over the small cuts on his arms. Tails giggled while the echidna gave a brief snort and reached for the bandages.

xxx

The trio left shortly thereafter, leaving the city to continue on the desert track they had taken earlier, before the scorpion had surprised them. There had been a small debate about how to recompensate the family whose supplies they had ravaged, but that had been solved when Tails had suggested to leave his bracelets and satin sash behind, claiming that they were much too hot to be worn in this heat anyway, but could probably be sold. The turban had already vanished as bandage wraps into Knuckles' glove, the echidna claiming in turn that Sonic would probably manage to get one of his ears cut off next, anyway.

The two-hour break had all left them refreshed, so they were once again proceeding at a very speedy pace – Sonic had been forbidden to go faster than 200 miles an hour, lest his wounds would open again, but the three friends were still making a good time. Knuckles and the blue speedster were running side by side, with Tails soaring overhead them, occasionally informing the other two Mobians when he could see something interesting up ahead.

Since it was still quite hot, Sonic and Knuckles were more than once squabbling about who could run in Tails' shade right now, an exercise that ended usually with one of them catching a faceful of sand and leaving the small fox wondering whether it wouldn't be better to _walk_ altogether.

They were just passing by the small crater where the sand scorpion had first appeared, when Knuckles suddenly grabbed Sonic's wrist and stopped.

"Wait a moment."

"Huh?" both hedgehog and fox were looking at the echidna, who was now squinting down the sandy slope.

"I think I've seen something down there. A glint of metal."

"You sure?" Sonic asked, only reluctantly following the echidna down the crumbling incline. The hedgehog hated any surfaces that didn't let him have a firm footing, and potential quicksand occupied one of the top spaces on that list.

_Well, at least Tails could get us out if anything happens. Gods, I'm so glad to have him back again. _

"Yes, Sonic, I'm sure. I'm also a treasure hunter, remember?"

Knuckles had reached the lowest point of the funnel-like sand crater and stopped there. Sonic came sliding down the slope and tripped over his own feet as he tried to avoid crashing into the echidna.

"Whoa-!" he landed on his hands and knees less than dignified, but quirked an eyeridge as he looked down at the thing lying in the sand between his hands, unearthed by his stumble.

"Hey, Knux! Seems like you were right, here's a…ring of some kind…"

"One of those seven world rings?" Tails asked curiously from overhead, as always the first to make a connection.

"Heh, yeah, probably," Sonic replied, before grabbing at the circlet. As soon as his hand closed around that thing, however, several things happened.

"Ahhh! OW!" Sonic staggered to his feet, surprised, as he felt an almost electric tingle rush up his arm and fill his entire body, suddenly unable to let go of the metal. Sparks and small lightning bolts erupted from the golden circlet in his hands, Knuckles carefully taking a step back and Tails' eyes growing wide. Almost simultaneously, a great puff of purple smoke erupted out of nowhere next to them, and a voice proclaimed:

_"When darkness descends upon the Arabian Nights - the Legendary Blue Hedgehog from another world shall come!"_

"Shahra!" Sonic's face broke into a smile as the genie had reappeared in the physical world, while his fox friend, not having been able to take her in properly before, was almost knocked out of the sky in astonishment.

"Legendary?" Knuckles had his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Gimme a break, the only legendary thing about this guy is his appetite…"

While Sonic opened his mouth for a scathing retort, Shahra was already continuing:

_"When the seven rings that control the world are gathered, the portal between the worlds shall open. But the life of the collector of the rings shall be offered up as sacrifice for that control."_

Silence descended as the three Mobians tried to make sense of that. Sonic was the first to find his voice again.

"…say_ what?_ Shahra, I'm glad to have you back, but did you maybe hit your head meanwhile?"

"No, you don't understand! While I was resting, I could…hear what the stories are saying. What I just quoted was written in the latest chapter of the Arabian Nights!"

"Okay…" Sonic had flattened one of his ears, frowning, while he mentally repeated her words, then suddenly looked at the girl, alarmed: "Hey, does that mean I'm supposed to be some kind of _sacrifice?!_ No way!"

Shahra was unable to hold his gaze and looked away, uneasy. "That I cannot say for sure. But I do believe that these World Rings hold the key to some sort of mystery. And that we need to collect them to get to the bottom of this mystery."

"But I don't _want_ Sonic to die! If the collector is sacrificed, that Erazor bully can get his own stupid rings if he wants them so badly! We're not doing it!" Tails shouted, having whirled into the face of Shahra and hovering there glaring with his arms crossed and tails spinning wildly. The genie regarded him with utter surprise, apparently not that familiar with flying foxes.

"Hey, hey, calm down, Tails!" Sonic tugged gently at the shoe of his younger brother. "Considering that I still have this arrow in my chest, I'm in a pinch either way, right?" he asked, his voice carefully light and jocular. "By the way, how come you got your strength together so fast, Shahra?"

"It was the ring – it contains part of the magic of our world, I actually feel a lot more charged up than in a long time. Maybe I can be of some more help now." Shahra said, for the first time since she had appeared genuinely smiling.

"And that means we have six more to go, right?" Knuckles asked, who had taken the circlet from Sonic and was examining it now. There was Arabic writing on it that he was unable to read, but he could tell that the ring had to be made from a really strange material – although the colour was a light gold, it didn't feel like that metal at all. "Will we have to defeat a giant monster for each one of them? Considering that we found this one where the scorpion had been living, it almost seems as if your evil Djinn had placed it there to be guarded by that thing."

The genie looked uncertain, while both Sonic and Tails were gazing at her with interested expressions. "I…don't think so, according to the prophecy they're scattered all over the chapters…Erazor himself probably doesn't know where they are."

"Well, that's grand news, isn't it?" Knuckles sighed, handing the ring back to the blue hedgehog, who lodged it somewhere in the magic wonderland of his quills. The genie looked down. "I'm sorry…it's my fault that all of this happening, I-"

Sonic, sensing one of the genie's guilt tirades coming on that he by now started to fear even worse than Robotnik's pre-battle rants, immediately flashed a grin and a thumbs-up gesture at his little audience.

"Heh, nobody here worry about it. Don't you know how fast I am? We'll have all these rings in a jiffy. Time may fly, but I'm even faster!"

In a second he had grabbed both of his corporeal friends and they were running again, Sonic releasing their wrists as all were out of the crater and they were able to keep up.

Tails still looked mildly worried, however, while Knuckles just privately mused that if there was one thing that both hedgehogs and deserts had in common, it was being full of hot air.

xxx

"Say...we're going to the valley of dinosaurs because a pterosaur has kidnapped Robuttnik, right?" the young fox kit asked a couple of hours later.

A hot afternoon, feeling as unappreciated by the sweating three Mobians as grandma's self-knitted sweater underneath the Christmas tree, was already leaving grumpily. It made way for the much more well-received PS3, which came in the form of a cooler, darker sky and an early evening.

They had been walking instead of running for some time now, not least because Tails didn't yet have the stamina of his older friends. For once, it suited Sonic just fine, though, because the slashes were now complaining whenever he moved too rapidly. It indicated healing, of course, but also meant that running was currently not an option.

"Yes we are, Tails, why?" Sonic replied, while his bare legs were brushing against the long, dry grasses that had started to grow on the ground, about an hour after the city had disappeared from view. They really seemed to be getting closer to the mountains now.

"We-ell…if it abducted him this morning, I was just wondering…what's it gonna do with him once it reaches its nest?"

Silence descended as that question sunk in. Imagination, and her boyfriend Horrid Pictures In Yours showed up to casually lay their arms around the trio's shoulders. Sonic swallowed.

"You don't think that dinosaur would…"

The hedgehog couldn't _quite_ bring himself to picture a gravestone entitled with 'He ended as an Omelette', but it was a vague idea in his head.

"Oh, don't worry, master!"

"Oh yeah? Give me one reason why not to. I don't know about _your_ world, but where we come from, feeding sapient creatures to wild beasts is _not_ an option." Knuckles shot back at Shahra, who flinched, but still managed to keep a smile on her face.

"No, what I meant to say was – that was a _mommy_ pterosaur."

"…sweet Chaos, please take these _images_ out of my head," Sonic groaned finally, "you're not trying to tell us, that that…she-dinosaur has mistaken him for an _egg_, are you!"

"What? NO!" the genie gestured wildly, "it's more like…at this time of the year, the females are gathering food for their young that will hatch in a few days. They like to keep the prey fresh, so while your friend might be a prisoner in the nest, no harm will come to him until the babies are ready to eat…we still have some days' time."

"Ugh." The blue hedgehog had turned a slight shade of green, a finger of his having curled underneath the gold ring around his neck and tugging in discomfort. "Remind me to get the hell outta this valley as soon as we're done. Eggman's not my friend, but even he doesn't deserve to be eaten alive."

"Sonic, do we have to go there?" Tails also looked slightly queasy.

"Afraid so, bud. Unless of course, you and Knux stay here."

"No way, hedgehog. You'll probably need our help anyway, and I want to get those world rings so I can finally return to my Island."

Sonic mock sighed, not quite hiding his relief that the two of them were coming with him despite the gruesome prospects. "You sound like a broken record, Knux."

"_You_ sound like in need of a broken jaw. Now are we going or not?"

"We are, Knucklehead. We are," Sonic answered, taking the jibe in stride. He had a feeling that an echidna and his comedy routine would be the least of their problems in the near future…the hero took a step forward, overlooking the wide expanse of Dinosaur Valley below him, where the trees and cacti were rising in the air along with the cries of a thousand and one ancient beasts.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Here we go! Now it's time for action again and me playing a certain level over and over until I'm sick of it. XD Hope you enjoyed, and please review:D

_Side note: _Credit this time goes to crimson-obsidian-rose, for making a clever suggestion in chapter four. Really, he _could _have just wished her away from harm...XD

**Next Up**: Stuffed to the brim with cacti, hedgehogs, egos and other prickly things, it's _The Wicked Wild _–**Dinosaur Jungle!**


	13. The Wicked Wild

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, there would have been a proper opening movie, preferably featuring Shadow and the chicken dance.

**Ri2:** You're always the first one, how do you do it? XD And mind you, I wouldn't count on Sonic and Co to be as fond of the dinosaurs as you seem to be…;) Anyway, thx for the tip with Youtube, but it's actually okay – I'm still chasing those highscores, so writing this chappie is actually a motivation for some more training. Thanks for the comment! :D

**Asher Tye:** Heheheh, yeah, I believe I was hungry when coming up with that particular line. XD Writing Sonic and Knux playing doctor was fun. :3 That 'hog needs to learn that his stunts have consequences…glad you liked the scene, and as for Tails' outfit, we shall see. Thanks for reviewing!

**The Conflicted Writer: **You got Vec's line stuck in your head? Well, _you know what they say – THE MORE, THE MERRIER!_ (clears throat) sorry. But these phrases tend to be contagious. XD Whether Robotnik and King Sharyar are really the same will be resolved soon – and no worries, I think I pretty much covered every plothole possible. If you fall into one, just review and I will fish you out. :3 As for where I learned to write – it's all natural, no silicone. ;) Schools here frown upon creative writing, so what I can do I pretty much picked up from reading, reading, reading. On ffnet, the guys on my fav author list were (and are) my teachers. :D

**Blue-Kaous-: **Thanks for the fav and welcome aboard! Hope you'll like it! :D

**JudasFm: **"Poor Sonic" says the person who wrote him _brutally tortured for three entire months…_err, yes. Less fanfic for me. XD Glad you liked the chapter! If only I could draw, there would already be some pic of Sonic with a giant sweatdrop looking down at a very cub-like, sheepish Tails with one twisted, orange fuzzy appendage ball behind him…:D I'm happy you said the interaction worked – I'm much more experienced with Sonic/Shads, Sonic/Knux biting each other's heads off, so I'm glad that went well. Thanks a lot for all the help, too! :D

**Feniiku: **Yeah, a cuddly family that occasionally has the parents throwing super-sonic kicks and rock-hard punches at each other, at least…;) Nope, Dinosaur Valley is actually a fun level – the one I _really_ hate are those floating ruins…damn spike balls. Thanks for commenting! :)

**Luigifan1: **Hi there again! Glad you like the gags – for some reason I still enjoy cracking jokes about the big Pink One. The idea of the stories sucking Tails into the book was kinda what sparked this whole fic off in the first place, so I'm happy to hear you think it a good idea. Thanks for the review, too, looking forward to read you again! :D

**crimson-obsidian-rose:** Heheheh, that's a cute way to describe Tails! Sonic probably would protest, tho…;) Oh, and people congratulated you for that idea, too! :D Yup, gotta love Knux' way of putting things. The only one that could get even more caustic could probably be Shadow, methinks. Thanks so much for the comment, glad you like it! :3

**MegaHog14: **Yeah, sometimes Sonic isn't exactly the sharpest knive in the drawer, huh? More of a spoon kinda guy…(don't let him hear that!) Jungle levels are okay…I want to hit the person responsible for the flying debris in the Levitated Ruins section, tho. ;)

**Ember Rock:** Longest…review…_ever_. Thanks so much!!

**D.C.111: **Yeah, I couldn't help it, Tails with his namesakes in a knot would be just too CUTE! XD And writing that scene with Knux and Sonic was fun – not often that echidna gets back at the speedster. ;) And as for Omeletteman's /King Shahryar's fate, we shall see…thanks a lot for the review! :D

**Nintendo Mania: **Heh, everybody loves seeing Tails! :D Wonder what happens when I kill him off again…just kidding. ;) And Sonic vs Knux…old, bickering, married couple. 'nuff said. XD Thanks for commenting!

**Forgotten Muse: **'Chaos Spear' mean anything to you? At least that's what I would expect! :D

_Side note:_ Just for the record and some comments the characters make, I'd like to get the time line straight – namely, that all of the non-gameboy/DS games have happened (Shadow The Hedgehog took place over a year ago, Sonic NextGen some months previously, even if don't know precisely what that game was about, only that it didn't _really_ happen - help!), and SonicX never took place, even if there's humans on my Mobius. On to the story!

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Wicked Wild  
**

It had been getting continually darker, until the sun had almost completely disappeared behind the horizon. The three Mobians had started to walk in single-file as the foliage became noticeably thicker – bushes at their sides had turned into high, leafy tress, the grass underneath their feet no longer brown and dry, but vibrant green on the now moist earth. Later, boulders and long, tall cacti had lined their path, which was now continuing downwards. Under usual conditions, Knuckles was the one with the best night vision, but right now Ignite-me-Sonic™ had been chosen as leader.

"YEOUCH! Friggin, stupid, spiky-!"

"Walked into a cactus again, Sonic?" the echidna enquired pleasantly, while the hedgehog was hopping on one foot, trying to extract three rather long needles from the other.

"I can't help it! There's these really tiny, round ones, and the flame on my chest is only enough to show what's in front of me, not on the ground!" the blue hero grumbled as he was finally able to walk on two feet again.

"And that's why I prefer boots over sneakers."

"Would love to see what of your precious boots remains when I run in them at mach 2," Sonic muttered in front of them, still trying to find his way through the forest, which had become ever thicker with every step they took. "I think it's time we find some spot for – hey, a clearing!"

The trio poured out of the undergrowth, relieved. There was indeed a tiny meadow here which seemed ideal for camping.

"Good. You set up base, I find something to eat. I think there was a stream with some fish not too far away…" Knuckles vanished into the night again, and even while Sonic listened whether the echidna wouldn't run into stuff too, there was nothing to be heard.

"Damn. And he calls _me_ a show-off…"

"What was that, Sonic?"

"Huh? Nothing, Tails." The hedgehog smiled again and instead dropped the water bottle Shahra had magicked for him onto the ground. "Guess we should be good house wives and make it homey here before Knucklehead returns, then, right?"

"Sure thing! I saw some really big leaves, shall I get three for blankets?" the kit asked, pointing to the other side of the clearing, all eager to help.

"Oh, do not worry! Please let me give you a hand!" Shahra appeared at his words in a puff of smoke and smiled. "I think it's finally time for me to help you out as well…" she flicked her fingers and three mats and blankets appeared on the clearing out from thin air, making Tails jump in surprise.

Sonic's face broke out in a huge grin. "Hey, great work, Shahra! These look pretty comfy, huh Tails?"

"Uh…sure…" Tails rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Compared to the leaves he had wanted to get for Sonic and Knuckles, these mats really seemed better. "Then…then I'll make a fire!" he piped up instead, determined to make himself useful still. The kit had recognized and collected a flint stone and some dry grass for that exact purpose earlier and now wanted to surprise his hero, and (hopefully) impress him.

"Oh no," Shahra, who was feeling really good that she had finally been more of a help than a hindrance to Sonic, laughed again, "Please do not trouble yourself now that I am back to my old power, Envoy of Inari!" she clapped once and a dead trunk not two metres away suddenly burst into flame, sending Tails backwards with another startled yelp. "It's magical fire, you don't even have to worry that it will spread to the grass."

"Neat." Sonic whistled in appreciation and the genie beamed at the praise. "We should take her with us everytime we go camping from now on, right, li'l bro?" the hero asked jokingly, but he was actually addressing Shahra and winking as he said it.

"It's not a camping trip, hedgehog."

Sonic spun around in a milisecond. He hated to admit it, but that echidna could be incredibly _silent_ when he wanted to be. "Geez, Knux, will you stop that? You must have a cat somewhere in your ancestry – hey, are those salmon?" His expression had changed rather rapidly at that last question and now the hedgehog was eyeing the three speared fish hungrily.

"I won't, I don't, and yes, they are. Where'd the beds come from?" Knuckles raised an eye ridge at the fire and the mats, letting Sonic start chattering happily about Shahra's newly regained magic and which blue hedgehog in his opinion deserved the biggest fish.

Somewhere behind them, a small flint stone landed in the grass, now as useless as his owner currently felt himself.

xxx

It was some time later after they had roasted and eaten the salmon, that Sonic found himself wandering through the surrounding forest again, having left Knuckles and Tails at the campsite. Since his hunger had already been taken care of, and he would also be able to rest comfortably soon enough, there was only one natural urge still left to be fulfilled and Sonic was right now hunting for a nice tree or bush to do so.

He found one that looked about right, and, after a quick glance to assure himself that there was no dangerous animal around waiting for an unsuspecting hedgehog pastry, turned to it, unfocused his stare, and started to sigh in relief.

"Master?"

"GAH! Shahra, not _now!_"

"_I'm sorry_!" the genie immediately blushed a fierce crimson and, unwilling to return to the ring (which happened to be on Sonic's hand) fled behind some nearby bushes, deeply embarrassed.

"Shahra? I'm, uh, done now…" her master's voice called out to her soon enough and she could hear him coming into her direction. "Where are you?"

"I'm here!" the genie emerged from behind the foliage and stared at the blue hedgehog. He was actually blushing just slightly, but trying to hide that with a kind of lop-sided grin. And suddenly she was glad that it was too dark for non-magical creatures to see properly and the fire on his chest was bathing everything in a red shine, because now her own cheeks were burning just as hotly…and the fact that her insides had turned into an impromptu knot was _not_ helping.

"Hey, uh, you okay?" Sonic asked, chuckling a little as he beheld his flustered genie. "It wasn't exactly your fault…" a gloved hand rubbed the back of his head with one ear drooping and at this point Shahra would have given pretty much everything to just get that voice squealing 'CUTE!' over and over out of her head. Therefore, the girl just stared and Sonic was left to wonder whether genies could suffer from constipation too, or if that expression maybe was supposed to mean something else.

"Errm, well, did you want anything in particular from me?" the hero finally asked, deeming a topic change the safest option.

Shahra, mentally shaking herself into normal conversation again, blinked and then smiled. "Oh, eh…nothing much. I had just noticed you were alone and wanted to thank you properly for everything again. And maybe you can tell the Guardian once more that I am sorry."

"Hey, not necessary, Shahra. I always help out when I can. Knux actually does it a lot, too, at least recently." Here the hedgehog had to grin and winked. "You know, sometimes I think that whole 'raahhgettahelloffmyisland' thing he usually has going is just a front. He would appreciate a thank-you from you, too, even if he doesn't show it. Don't be scared of his tough-guy exterior."

"Oh, I'm not. Actually, I quite like him." Shahra replied, her demeanour a lot more relaxed now. She had never before imagined she could be…among friends…

"Really?" Sonic perked an ear and gave a surprised laugh. "That guy doesn't usually make good first impressions. How come?"

"We…talked a bit while you were unconscious the previous day. I admit I didn't understand everything he said, but I think he talked a lot about a girl named Emerald, and how he always has to protect her. I think that's very romantic." She smiled and sighed, while Sonic in the darkness sweatdropped and hoped Shahra wouldn't spread that theory to anyone else.

"Uhhh…right."

"And he was right when he reacted to my lying like that. If you ever change your mind about wanting to help me, I would still understa-" Shahra's voice had acquired a sad tone at this again, but she was suddenly cut short as Sonic had seized her hand in his.

"Hey Shahra, ever heard of a pinky swear?"

"No…" the genie stared at the hedgehog perplexed, while he was gently disentangling her small finger from the others of her right hand and then proceeded to wrap his own pinky around hers.

"It's the highest and most honourable vow you can take in my world." Sonic replied, and while his voice sounded serious enough the genie girl wondered just a little at the small twinkle in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah. And now, I solemnly swear that I will save your world, never abandon you against your will and make you smile again. Agreed?" Sonic grinned up at the girl.

Purple smoke tears were brimming in Shahra's eyes, but her finger was warm and solid as she squeezed.

"…agreed."

_Friends._

xxx

Meanwhile, thousands of centimetres away…

"Knuckles?"

_Here we go._

The echidna had difficulty not to roll his eyes. The kit was sitting opposite him on the other side of the burned-down fire and was looking as if somebody had just announced that the laws of physics now forbid planes. And _had_ been looking like that all evening. Staring miserably at the ground, his red vest hanging from drooping shoulders, only raising his head to shoot occasional sad glances at the oblivious hedgehog who had let himself meanwhile be entertained by Shahra's mini fire-works.

"…can I maybe talk to you?"

Knuckles sighed. Sometimes he wondered.

He was a) reclusive,

b) stoic at best and otherwise unfriendly,

c) living on an Island floating miles above civilization for a _reason,_

and d) had to his knowledge _no_ sign on his forehead saying 'The doctor is IN'.

"It's about Sonic." Now the voice started to sound shaky.

So, in terms of 'not being bothered', what was he doing _wrong?!_

"What about Sonic?"

Tails raised his head and looked at Knuckles with wide, sad eyes. "Is this Shahra his new side-kick now?"

"No," the echidna replied heavily. "She isn't."

"But…she can do all those things with her magic and stuff…I bet she's really useful to have around and all…" the kit had started to pluck at one of his tails now and looked utterly miserable. "I couldn't even start a fire with the flint stones I brought."

"You can't start a fire just with flint stones," Knuckles shot back gruffly. "Everybody and their cat _thinks_ that, but in fact you also need a steel knife or at least some pyrite. _That's_ what makes the embers."

"I know that. That's why I was so happy that I still had my screw driver that I always keep with me…" Knuckles raised an eye ridge as Tails was now fingering said instrument and looking at it sadly. Raising his head to look at the echidna he held it out to him. "It's really fine steel, you know. And it _would_ have worked," he said, that last sentence sounding almost petulant.

The Guardian regarded the tool. It was already old, but still in surprisingly good shape.

"Sonic gave it to me as my first birthday present. I keep it with me in one of my tails. And now it was so completely _useless_…"

The stare of violet eyes softened just a little as the hand with the screw driver suddenly started to tremble. Knuckles took it from unresisting fingers and turned it over in his hands.

"You're right. It would have worked."

Tails, who had hung his head again, jerked back upwards and regarded the Guardian with tears streaks on his cheeks.

"W-what?"

"That was a clever plan, using that thing and collecting some flint stones," the echidna simply said, handing the tool back. "And if we hadn't found that ring today, which was pure coincidence, I would have been very grateful, too. I can start a fire with wood and friction heat, but to tell you the truth," – and here Tails' eyes widened to see a small twitch of the echidna's lips for once – "it's actually 'a real pain', as Sonic would probably put it."

At the mention of Sonic's name the small upwards curve of Tails' mouth vanished as soon as it had come. "Yeah, and with magic it's so much _easier_, isn't it…" the kit sounded downright bitter now.

Knuckles shrugged. "I prefer the manual tactic anytime. More reliable. And if you think that this genie is that powerful, you haven't seen her before we found that ring. She managed to save us once while we were falling, I grant her that, but before she was pretty much useless except as a guide."

Tails ears perked up. If it had been anyone other than Knuckles, he would have asked 'Really?' at this point, but with the echidna, that was unnecessary. Knuckles _never_ lied.

"But…maybe Sonic still likes her more than me…" Tails knew that sounded incredibly silly even to his own ears, but Knuckles didn't know about his nightmares.

Oh yes, the nightmares.

The small kit had woken up more than once bathed in cold sweat…

There was always the boy. That horrible human boy, with his rich house and his eyes as blue as Tails', and the strange world, and then _Sonic always didn't know him anymore…!_

Knuckles raised another eye ridge concerned as the fox had suddenly started to hyperventilate and staring into thin air.

"Hey." A gloved hand shook Tails back into the present. "You know what Sonic's first worry was when we came into this world?"

"W-what?" Blue eyes tried to focus on violet.

"It was you. We had just arrived in this strange desert, were faced with possible death by dehydration, getting lost, he had the fate of _two_ whole worlds on his shoulders, plus that arrow stuck in his chest, and you know the only thing that actually troubled him about that whole deal? 'Hey Knuckles, do you think Tails is okay?'" The echidna huffed.

"Believe me, kid, if Sonic cares about anything at all, it's you."

A second later, Knuckles was doubly glad that the hedgehog wasn't there, because when Tails hugged him then, it was with so much enthusiasm and gratitude the echidna was downright embarrassed as he couldn't stop himself from hugging back.

Somewhere in the woods, a thumping noise and some muffled cursing indicated that said hedgehog was returning and had, once again, stumbled across a cactus.

xxx

Later in the night, Sonic's eyes flew open as something had just brushed against him. Shahra had taken the night watch again, so what…?

Then the hedgehog smiled as he recognized the amber fur-bundle that was trying to cuddle up against him, seemingly more asleep than awake. Even if they still had the genie's fire burning, and Tails was wearing his new little red vest, the nights were _cold…_

Closing his eyes again with his lips twitching just slightly (and suppressing a wince as an orange elbow dug into his bandages) Sonic reached out with one arm and pulled the fox up to him, who immediately relaxed in content. The hedgehog smiled.

Shahra's magic fire was nice, but simple body heat from a friend always warmed best.

xxx

"_Yaaaah!" _

"Where the _hell_ did they come from?!"

"RUN! RUN OR THEY'LL CATCH UP!"

Knuckles and Tails were shooting along the path at their top speed, both looking shocked and wide-eyed. They were being chased by…well, if Dr. Robotnik had been there, the all-around scholar and friendly neighbourhood madman probably would've been able to tell you (interrupted by maniacal laughter, anyway) that the panicked Mobians were currently being chased by four amazingly healthy specimen of _chasmosaurinae,_ more commonly known as 'triceratopses'.

For the echidna and fox, however, they were merely a solid wall composed of horns, steam, muscles, velocity and terrible roaring, and that was a perfectly sufficient reason for Running Away Madly in their opinion.

"Knux! Tails! I saw a bridge up ahead, there we can shake them off!"

Sonic, who had already rushed on ahead, had zoomed back to the pair and was now jogging next to them, checking that both could still keep up their speed.

"I…hope...so…" Knuckles' breath already came raggedly through gritted teeth. The path they were running along was broad, dry and grassy - an ideal running ground, save for the odd cactus they had to avoid. However, it also came with an impossibly high rock wall to the left and a sheer drop to the right, so there was no way to escape from the stampede of the orange-coloured, screaming beasts behind them, save running forward.

"But what did we _do_?!" Tails shrieked as the distance between him and a particularly sharp horn suddenly closed in dangerously until Sonic yanked him forward again. To fly, the kit would have needed a second to stop and wind up his tails, but that second would make him a pancake.

Sonic also didn't reply to his question - mostly because he knew the answer.

He thought the triceratopses were over-reacting, though.

When Knuckles and Tails had been at the camp site this morning, preparing breakfast, the hedgehog had just had a small look around. He had come across a sleeping herd of them and simply couldn't believe that something so big and supposedly extinct could possibly be alive and real…

Only a few seconds later, the meal at the camp site had been abruptly cut short when a screaming blue hedgehog came shooting across the clearing, with about half a dozen angry monsters in his wake.

Okay. Maybe chucking a stone at the biggest of them hadn't been _that_ smart, come to think of it.

"I dunno, Tails! Just _run!"_ Knuckles barked next to them and the mad chase continued.

No, Sonic wasn't planning on sharing that little secret. Because if he did, the difference between the screaming beasts behind him and the echidna would likely be the same as the one between a playful, affectionate kitten and the furry version of Michael Myers.

"How…long to…the bridge?"

"Only two minutes or so." Sonic winked, running backwards, more relaxed now as the dinosaurs were starting to fall back, "Outrunning those megalomaniac lizards should be a piece of-"

And then, Sonic ran into a cactus.

"…'piece of succulent', you wanted to say?"

"Shut it, Knucklehead." Sonic growled, still trying to get his footing back. Luckily the echidna had been able to grab the fallen hedgehog's wrist in passing and pull him along before the dinosaurs could trample the three of them. Now it was Sonic for a change who was trying to get his feet sorted at their velocity again, and for the blue hero the situation was as fiercely humiliating as it was highly entertaining for his red rival.

"The bridge! The bridge!" Tails' voice cried out in front of them, hoarse from the rapid breathing, but the sight of the wooden construction seemed to give him new energy. Sonic finally got his footing back and grabbed both of his companions, zooming towards it, the furious and disappointed roaring of the dinosaurs still in the background.

It was a sturdy construction that led over a maybe twenty feet wide chasm. On the left side a tall, broad waterfall rushed past the bridge into the depths, feeding a river underneath.

All in all, a nice site to rest a while and to gaze at the water below, if there weren't mad monsters chasing you. Or, of course, if you happened to be a hydrophobe and the thought of standing a hundred feet above a wild water river was not really your idea of masochistic entertainment.

Anyway, as it was, none of the Mobians were planning to wait around long on that bridge as they dashed towards it, and the giant wooden log that suddenly shot down the waterfall and crashed into the construction with them still on it made sure they wouldn't, either.

"WOAH!"

"Sonic!"

"_NotnownotherenotABOVETHEWATER!" _

The trio was falling. There were splinters of the bridge, huge droplets of sprayed liquid and the log whirling through the rushing winds beside them, while the roars of the waterfall alongside their descent distorted any screams. Jagged rock walls to their sides were promises of pain, and a certain member of the group was already severely panicking.

"No! NONO_NO_!"

"Knuckles! Hold onto me!" Tails had immediately started to spin his appendages and direct his flight. Gloved hands closed around the ankles of the disorientated echidna and managed to yank him away just in time for him not to smash against the rock at the side. The bottom of the chasm, a white-foaming mass of water and sharp stones threatening to first impale and then drown anyone unlucky enough to fall upon them, was almost reached.

"_Grab Sonic!" _ Tails shrieked as he saw his older brother tumbling down towards a watery death.

"LOWER, dammit!"

The fox' namesakes had never whirled so fast.

The echidna stretched himself in his awkward hanging position as Sonic below him came into reach…only seconds until impact now…damn, where did you grab this guy without getting your hands sliced off…_gotcha!_

A barbed fist closed on a rather delicate piece of Sonic's anatomy.

"OW!"

"You caught him! Knuckles, you caught him!"

"Yeah he did, now tell him to let go of my _tail!" _

A splash of wildly bubbling water underneath missed the hedgehog's dangling hands by inches.

"…or maybe just hold on. Please."

"Thought so, hedgehog." Sonic couldn't see the face of the echidna above him, but that smirk had been _audible_.

"Uh, guys…you know, I can't hold you up forever…" Tails' voice started to sound strained as he still supported the weight of his two older friends above the wild water river. Their formation looked a little bit like the one they had used when going up against Metal Overlord, except that Knuckles was in the middle and hanging upside down, Sonic practically had his butt in the air and they were all completely drenched.

_Dignity. That's what I'm missing in my life, _the hedgehog thought surly.

He tried to hang limply, since any struggling just made his tail ache all the more, but it wasn't much of an improvement.

"I…I really need to land…" the fox panted, already feeling a cramp coming on. But where?

On both sides steep rock walls prevented him flying up to a shore. Knuckles might be able to scale them, but for Sonic they were too slippery. The river was too deep and wild for swimming and now he was starting to see black dots…

"There!" Knuckles used his free hand to point to the exact same log that had crashed the bridge and which was now just starting to detach itself from the stones of the waterfallbed. "Let's use this as a raft and go down the river!"

Sonic raised his head, gave the contraption one look and groaned.

xxx

"Hey, I think we're actually going into the right direction, too! I can see pterosaurs in the distance ahead!" Tails exclaimed, pointing at the flying reptiles in question. The log had been severely reduced in size during the fall, but they still fit on it if they bunched together. Of course, there would have been _more_ space if one member of their team hadn't insisted on having to wrap all four of his arms and legs around the wood for safety. As it was, Tails was the one sitting in front and Knuckles was spread-legged on the end, with a prostrate Sonic between them, clinging to the log fiercely on his belly with both eyes squeezed shut as they rushed through the river.

"That's supposed to be the great hero of Mobius?"

"No one ever said great heroes functioned on water, did they?" came the muffled reply in front of him and Knuckles sighed again. He shifted his position slightly forward in order not to fall off behind, even if a bent-over Sonic's tail was already poking into his stomach and their bodies were touching in a rather…well, the Guardian was just glad that Tails was still too young to crack jokes about _that_ sort of stuff.

On the far-off shores, yaoi-fangirls were sighing.

"What was that?" Knuckles looked around, suspicious.

"Sirens," Shahra, who was floating next to their raft replied ominously, "Enticing to listen to and beautiful to behold, but do not go near them for they lure young male sailors to their doom."

"…right."

"Woah! Knuckles, you were supposed to be steering!" the fox squeaked from up front as the trio barely evaded a boulder to their right, which would have meant the last bit of their log getting smashed. The echidna watched how the messy blue spike bundle in front of him somehow managed to shrink even more. And while he wasn't certain whether the mumbling of the hedgehog was supposed to be frantic prayers or curses, it sure didn't sound too friendly.

"I _am_ steering! It's not my fault that the river ignores it!"

"_What?! What did you say?!" _Tails yelled back at Knuckles, but it was pointless. They were on a mad watery rollercoaster again, and avoided crushing into boulders and tall water plants only by pure chance. Waves splashed over their fur and half blinded the Mobians as they went into ever more wild curves. The scenery consisting of small waterfalls coming down from the sides, moss and cacti clinging to the rock walls and trees stretching their branches across the river flew by, its beauty completely unappreciated.

"There! Finally a ledge!" Tails pointed to one dot in the distance as soon as the water had calmed somewhat, "I'll fly you two up there!"

Sonic, whose head had snapped up at the first mention of dry land regarded the place curiously as they were drawing closer. "You sure, Tails? It's still way up, and I don't think you've ever flown Knux and me that high before…"

"Oh, I can do it! Just wish for me to levitate you all, Sonic!" Shahra was now floating beside their log and the echidna was quite sure that if Tails' fur hadn't been soaking wet it would have bristled at this point.

"No! Uh…I mean you gotta save your magic, right?" the kit suddenly interjected and all their heads turned.

"Why do you think so, Envoy of Inari?" Shahra appeared quite surprised herself.

"Err, because…because…" – _because_ _only I am allowed to help Sonic, that's why – _"uhmm, Robotnik!"

"What?"

"I agree, what?"

"Well, you see, if he thinks he's King Sharyar, he'll need his memories back, too! And you told me it really tires Shahra out, so she should save her energy for that!" Tails grinned in relief. Nothing like a genius brain for coming up with handy explanations.

"Well, yeah…but do we really need him to have his memories back? At least fairy tale kings haven't yet tried to squash people with giant checkered balls, last time I checked…" Sonic was rubbing his chin now, grinning deviously. Behind him, the scarlet echidna smirked.

"Yeah. And he calling you 'spiky thing' the entire time would actually be pretty funny."

"…Shahra, you need to save your magic. Tails, fly us up."

And even if Knuckles had to jump off during the last few metres and scale the rest of the rock wall by himself, it was a proud (if panting) fox that had reached the ledge with his big brother in tow.

xxx

"Right. So, uh, where to go from here?" Sonic asked, removing his soaked gloves and trying to wring the dripping garments out. The gloves by now were actually in a pitiful state – overstretched, stained from the blood that had refused to be washed out, and frayed at the tips and seams. Sonic sighed. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I even bother wearing them. With my lifestyle a pair never lasts longer than a week at the most, anyway."

"But you wouldn't want to touch everything with your bare hands, would you?_"_ Tails replied, his tongue poking out and nose scrunched up in nine-year olds' universal expression of distaste. "That would be _gross!"_

"Yeah, probably." The hedgehog chuckled (not least because the little fox also looked all puffed-out where he had shook himself to get dry, thus essentially turning into a pom-pom with a red vest) and proceeded to shake his quills instead, to dislodge some of the water.

"_Hey!" _

"Whoops. Sorry, Knux."

"'Sorry' up my spines, hedgehog. And you should worry more about those soaked bandages of yours than the gloves."

"Huh, yeah. Guess I need to change them…" Sonic carefully removed the ones around his waist and raised an eyebrow to see that while not fully closed, the gash had already healed considerably.

"Wow Knuckles, that healing powder is really effective. Your people must have been highly skilled," Tails exclaimed, eyes wide, while the echidna just looked the tiniest bit proud, even if he was trying to hide it.

Sonic briefly thought about making a comment how _any_ society that was basically a lot of people like Knuckles, all confined on one tiny Island, eventually had to develop amazing medical skills just because of the constant _practice,_ but decided against it. Not as long as the echidna had that iodine instrument of torture still at his disposal, anyway.

"I think as long as you don't do anything stupid today, you should be fine without the bandages," Knuckles finally said. "Now let's go after this dinosaur again, or else we'll be taking Robotnik home with all three of us carrying a piece each."

"Ugh. No need to be so graphic." Sonic made a face, uncomfortably tugging at the gold ring around his neck as he sometimes did at unpleasant thoughts, but they got moving anyway.

(After Shahra had dried their wet socks and shoes, at least. They still wanted to use her magic as little as possible, but a Sonic with blisters was in battle about as useful as a Chaos Emerald made from paper maché – you could still _throw_ them at enemies if you were desperate, but that was about it.)

The ledge Tails had flown them up was basically a sort of plateau as they had found out, rising above the river on one, and more water on all other sides, but was connected to other plateaus by thick strings of plants, not unlike the horizontal grinding vines in Frog Forest. The scattered vegetation consisted mainly of round or tall and tree-like cacti (which Sonic had already learned to hate very intensely), holly trees, short dry grass and some bramble bushes, making Dinousaur Jungle practically the biggest botanic needle cushion ever in existence.

Sonic broke out into a light jog, the others keeping up easily. More offensive plant life was dodged and the hedgehog started to grin as he tore fleet-footedly across a thin vine connecting this plateau to the next. Jumping across a cactus, hearing Tails soar overhead and Knuckles simply punch the thing to pieces as they followed in his wake, he couldn't help but laugh. This was how life was supposed to be!

And then, they beheld the first of Erazor's monsters and stopped dead in shock.

_To be continued..._

* * *

…wheee, great chance for cliffie detected! Okay, after a long 'Wikipedia' /'Life...'/ Cinderella intervall, here's another monster of a chappie finished and I hope you like. :D Friendship bonding stuff, Sonic's most favourite element of them all in abundance and, of course, Chris bashing. My perfect trinity for a chapter. XD

Please review, that thing took bloody _ages_ to write...;)

_**Next Up: Dinosaur Jungle - Mind the Teeth! **_


	14. Dinosaur Jungle! Mind the Teeth!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned this game, I would have repositioned a certain cactus. On the lead level designer's chair, for example.

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Knux seems to be fading? That shouldn't be happening. No worries, I'll see to it. :) And yeah, I also read the seventh and I believe that's also where I got the wording from ultimately – just think, if Sonic had ever gone to Hogwarts in the years previously, he and the twins would've made a dream team of prank terror! XD Damn that ending…and hey, I thank _you_ for the suggestion – it's the contact with readers that makes writing all the more fun. :)

**MegaHog14: **I _had_ to torture him with the cacti, that was self-therapy for _my _trauma…;) but glad you liked it and thanks a lot for the review!

**Ri2: **(waves frantically and tries to make shushing noises) Shh! We don't want to spoil the monsters for non-gamers! 'Monsters', anyway…heh, yeah, Shahra is probably becoming closer with Sonic than he would like. XD And about the cacti: Burn. All. Of them. The bit about Inari will be fitted in soon, I wanted to do an explanation earlier, but there just wasn't the time – it's just a little tid-bit for fun, tho. Thanks for commenting!

**YumeTakato:** Thanks! Happy to hear you found that chappie best, coming up with that analogy was fun, too. :D

**Asher Tye: **Chris? Well, let me put it this way: If Chris was a snail in my garden, I'd go to my neighbour and borrow this really HUGE box of salt he has for keeping the snow off the pavement, and _then-_ well, this fic is K+. ;) As for Robotnik, there is yet a little surprise in store, but you're not that far off the mark… :D Thank you for the review!

**Nintendo Mania: **Heh, part of this fic is having to think up an explanation for every single whacko moment of the game, ranging from 'Wth is with the random dinosaur?!' to: 'and there's a bouncing pad in a prehistoric river…why?' Loving it, though. And yeah, Sonic and Tails friendship stuff is almost as high on my fav list as Sonic/Knux tearing each other's spines off. Glad you liked it!

**JudasFm: **Well, I'd wager that Shahra, having been not much more than a slave most of her life, never got the idea into her head that she could be a _rival_ for her Master's friend/sidekick. Still learning, I guess. ;) Mistakes are corrected, thanks! – and I still think an actual Ignite-me-Sonic would be cool. Maybe with his nose as a button and then you can use him to start BBQ fires…thanks for the help, again! :D

**Ember Rock: **Hi there! Heh, no worries, I'd pick your review out of thousands. ;) Yes, cacti. I'm writing this fic as a therapy, because I'm traumatized. Sometimes in flower shops I twitch. And…Tails being miserable? Impossible, you must be thinking of some other author…right? Heh, but he did get to cuddle with Sonic. I'm not _that_ cruel, you know. ;) Sirens and fangirls just seemed to fit…our poor heroes, surrounded by weird fanfic creatures on all sides. Once again, thanks so much for another mammoth review!!

**Dee: **Hey, happy to hear that! Heh, not a human fan, huh? XD Well, I'm at least partial to the Robotnik family, even if I can't stand anyone of the entire SonicX gang…;) Shadow and Amy, sucked into the book? Hmm, are they? (huge grin) I guess you'll have to read and find out! Thanks a lot for the long review! :D

**Si Fron Dimensional Creator: **Shadow as the 'Adventurer of Adventurers' ? XD Well, I can say that there's definitely a surprise in store, at least…I already know what's going to happen, though it might take a while. ;) Pirate levels? Oooooh, now _there_ we get to some chappies I'm looking forward to! Sorry for scaring you with the y-word, btw…and thanks for commenting! XD

**Rebell: **Heh, yeah, part of this fic is that I get to exercise all of the different character combination relationships possible! Glad you thought Tails and Knux worked well. :D I'll bet Sonic found his little upside-down air ride not half as funny as we did, btw. XD As for him throwing a rock at the dinosaurs – I think Sonic is the kind of person that would push the button marked with 'Apocalypse Now' just to see what happens. If you know you can always outrun the trouble you may cause, I think you'll become a lot more…inclined to _start_ it in the first place. ;) And once again, thanks a lot for another nice review. :D

**Zap the Hedgehog: **Heh, happy to hear that! Glad you like this as much as 'Life…'. :D Updates will continue to be steady, usually I have something new up every week. :) Good luck with Sand Oasis, btw, and thanks for the comment!

**The Conflicted Writer:** Hi there! :D As for your question (gets some explanatory gravel to fill up plot-hole) it's basically just a question of the timeline. My fics follow this continuity: SA/ SA2B (game) -'That Special Day'-– Shadow the Hedgehog (game) – 'Thank God it's Christmas' (to be posted in December) – SonicNextGen (game) – 'Tails' Daycare' (yet to be posted) - 'Burning Arrow'. So, as Shadow said that in the birthday fic, Nextgen hadn't happened, yet. :D However, I'm planning to elaborate on the subject of his power rings a little bit in this fic and also in 'Life…', so some explanation of their exact nature should follow. As for Sonic's birthday on June 23rd – it's his official one! That was when SEGA released Sonic the Hedgehog in Japan in 1991. :D Thanks a lot for your review!

**D.C.111: **Well, you _should_ use parenthesis sparingly. I just never said I'm a good example. XD And yup, Sonic and Tails brotherly fluff goodness…after all the stuff the li'l fox usually goes through at my hands, he deserves this, no? ;) Glad you liked him flying Sonic up the ledge, nobody else noted that. :D Thanks for taking the time to review!

**Feniiku: **By all means, do so. At least then I know I'm not the only one currently running into cacti…happy to hear you thought it funny, I love to entertain. :D

**Forgotten Muse: **Hmm, try again next century? XD I read somewhere that our brain, being such an important body part, uses up 25 percent of our energy total. So, no prizes for guessing how Sonic runs so fast…;)

**St. Noof:** Shadow as Solomon, huh? ;) Mind you, that was what _I_ had been hoping all along in the game – darn you, SEGA! As for this adaption – well, we shall see... :D Thanks for commenting!

**CerberAsta: **Nitpickery fixed. ;) Thanks! And yeah, in the game you have this weird RPG-ish leveling-up system which allows you to buy stuff with Exp. Points to improve your steering as you go along. You have to _pay_ to be able to control your own freaking character properly. It was fun, all in all, though…otherwise I wouldn't be doing the adapt! :D Stage descriptions are unfortunately necessary, since otherwise Sonic's actions are a bit hard to retrace. Space Colony ARK sure needs less setting…;)

* * *

**Chapter 14: Dinosaur Jungle! Mind the Teeth!**

There are all sorts of aspects to hero life.

Part of being one is that you must absolutely _not_ be surprised when out of nowhere you're suddenly attacked by a giant, mutant something-or-other, even if it's something like a, say, movie director or zombie hot dog. You just get on with it before they trash the _other_ half of the city, you know, the one with your apartment in it. No biggie.

Now, Sonic couldn't deny that the sand scorpion _had_ shaken him a bit, but he wouldn't have anything against fighting the Monster Hot Dog From Hell. Especially if the Evil Chili Creation of Doom was nearby and it was dinner time anyway.

And in comparison to the monster in front of him, this daydream made _sense_.

Sonic regarded the evil purple minion flower of Erazor and sighed.

"Either that guy is a deranged hippie or he _very subtly_ wants to hint at something," the blue hedgehog muttered, his forehead in the palm of his hand.

In front of him, the four feet tall flower hissed very threateningly.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Knuckles, walking up next to him, asked, indicating the plant. The thing was hovering slightly above the ground, bearing some resemblance to the henchmen of yesterday. Its stem was green, sporting a ring of green leaves hanging down where the arms would be located, while the three-foot long petals were a vivid pattern of pink and purple zigzag prints. In the middle of them, a small, angry, impish face peered at them. It was basically the ugliest thing Sonic had seen since an impromptu invasion mission in one of Robotnik's bases had ended in him getting lost and running into the shower. Which the good Doctor had been occupying at the time.

"Sonic? You okay? You look kinda green…"

"Old trauma." The hedgehog shook his head. The flower hadn't done anything.

The echidna folded his arms while below them on the grassy plateau still rushed the river. "Okay. Now defeat that thing so we can move on."

"What? Why _me_?"

"Because the Guardian of Angel Island does not, under any circumstances, frolic. Now get on with it."

Sonic groaned. "I am going to face off against a Djinn who sends purple flower minions with hissy fits after me. If anyone even _thinks_ of doing anything YMCA-related while I fight him, I'm gonna get Shadow to shoot you."

"Master? Do you need my help?" Shahra had poked her head out again as their journey had seemingly come to a standstill. Sonic sighed and waved her off.

"No, thanks. I mean, _Cream_ could probably handle this one."

Slightly irritated, the blue hedgehog walked up to the…thing, which had now started to rotate its petals around its mean face aggressively. Doing his best to ignore the suppressed snickering of his 'friends' behind him, Sonic looked up into the demon's face.

"Are you sentient? I'm just asking because otherwise you'll be salad."

In answer, the flower shrieked and proceeded to vomit some kind of fruit into the hero's face.

"What the _hell_?!" Sonic roared as he furiously wiped the mush off his visage (and the flower off the face of the Earth in one go) while Tails and Knuckles in the background were now howling with laughter.

"What a way to attack! That's _hilarious_!"

"_It damn well isn't!" _ Sonic barked back, even if some part of him was mentally clutching at his sides already.

"That Erazor must be completely off his rocker!" The echidna was trying to remain upright by leaning on a high boulder next to him, the other hand on his stomach. Sonic was just about to join in, when suddenly, he felt a twinge of sadness from somewhere, which puzzled him. Then it clicked.

…_Shahra? You okay?_

"_Yes, Sonic."_ But the reply was less than cheerful.

_What's the matter? Shouldn't I have destroyed that flower? _

"_No, it's…it's nothing. We should get going to save King Shahryar."_

_Whatever you say, Shahra. But if there's anything that bothers you…we can talk, right?_

"_Yes." _She smiled at him, her head appearing physically for a fraction of a second, but Sonic still got the impression that somehow, it wasn't sincere.

"I'm sorry, Sonic, but you should just have _seen_ your face-" Tails still giggled a bit and jerked the hedgehog back into the here and now. "You know, maybe Erazor just wanted to tell you how _sick_ he is of you foiling his plans – geddit?"

"Yeah. Thanks, li'l bro," the hero replied with a wry smile, wiping some orange pumpkin fruit residue off his pointed ear. "Next Disneyland creature gone bulimic you handle by yourself."

But of course, it didn't take long for Sonic to resume his usual cheerful mood again when they had finally passed the scene. For in front of them, the beauty of Dinosaur Jungle stretched on for miles. The plateaus continued and became broader as they walked on, sometimes flanked now by the stone walls of the river gorge, which gave some welcome cool shade. Tails got a first-hand experience of the monster puppets from Sand Oasis, this time a fashionable green version, and Sonic was already starting to get bored again, when Knuckles pointed to some strange contraptions in the distance.

"Hey, aren't those-"

"_Speeeeding paaaaaads…!_"

Next to him with a fading cry, the hedgehog was already gone.

Tails had followed him in a split second, appendages spinning like crazy, and Knuckles briefly stayed to watch the blue and amber blur chase each other. The pair was having enormous fun, since in front of them, the vine connecting to the next plateau wasn't straight any longer, but instead probably more twisted than Sonic's special brand of logic, winding over, under and around a giant, hollowed log of a dead mammoth tree. Faint screaming of Shahra during the whole ordeal suggested that she was the kind of person that had never gotten the point of roller-coasters.

xxx

"WOW! KNUX! LOOK AT _THIS!" _

The echidna in question groaned, slight feelings of dread rising within him. He had been following Sonic and Tails through the jungle for the last ten minutes after they had run out of sight, and now the blue maniac was calling for him, excited.

The echidna sighed. Whenever it was 'WOWKNUCKLESLOOKAT_THIS_!'-time, it meant Sonic had discovered something that was either fast, loud, suicidal or exploding at the moment, and Knuckles had found he hated all of these attributes very intensely.

He turned the corner to the source of their voices around a tall bush of wood spurge. And stared.

"Isn't it awesome?!" the flying jar asked.

Some people insist that there has to be a logical explanation for everything. Most of these people have never met Sonic the Hedgehog. Knuckles belonged to the first group _and_ had met Sonic the Hedgehog. Therefore, he knew that when you wanted an explanation of any insane event, you just had to find the blue lunatic and yell at him until he told you what he'd done _this_ time.

"Sonic," he said, his tone a forced calm, "Why is that jar talking with your voice?"

_And why does it have wings?_, he did not add. Apart from that it was just a very large, two-and a-half-feet tall, brown, ceramic jar. With two huge, white, fluttering angel wings of course.

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" The hedgehog's head popped up from where he had been inside the thing and grinned at Knuckles. The jar's wings stopped moving at this and it sank slowly to the ground.

"Knux, it's a _flying cookie jar_!"

"Yes. I think we've established that."

"Oh, come on, stop pretending you're Shadow. This is really cool, just wait a moment…"

Sonic dove down again and Knuckles thought he could hear a faint pumping noise. Suddenly, the wings beat stronger and faster, the jar rising as a result.

The plateaus had merged into the left side of the river walls during the last minutes of travel, becoming ridges, and the jar stood on the last one of them, where a high ledge obstructed their way. However, the wings carried the ceramic contraption and its pointy passenger all the way up, Sonic jumping out of the thing as soon as he was at the height of the higher level.

"Come on, Knux, hitch a ride up! Shahra said these things are used to carry heavy objects to upper stories of palaces and such. No idea what one's doing here, though. There's a kind of hand pumping mechanism inside, Tails said it's pretty simple," the hedgehog explained, then frowned. "…but I didn't understand a word of the explanation he gave after that. Anyway, hop in and try!" he called down, his trademark grin back in place.

Knuckles shook his head and started to scale the wall instead. "You see a giant jar with wings and your first thought is to jump in it. What's _wrong _with you?"

"Well, for one thing, I didn't have my sense of humour lobotomized," Sonic quipped, squatting on the edge, before turning around. "Hey, Tails! What'd you find? Does the way continue up here?"

The returned fox landed, nodding to both his brother and Knuckles as the echidna drew himself up. "Yeah! There's some log leading over a gap, with spikeballs rolling around on it, and then it practically opens up into a big lake area below, with small islands and pathways all across it. I also saw some real cool diplodocids!" Tails bubbled, eyes shining.

Like nearly all small kids he'd had his dinosaur phase a few years ago and this was even better than watching Jurassic Park. When he was six, he'd nagged Sonic for three days straight to rent that movie…(which had then turned into the prelude of the tails-in-a-knot incident. But that scene where she turns around and then discovers that black guy's _severed arm_ on her shoulder IS freaky.)

Sonic just grinned. "Cool! Spikeballs?"

Knuckles scowled. "Remember what I said about your missing bandages, hedgehog? _No stupid things today." _

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be good." Sonic waved him off, chuckling and already walking on again. The path lead them along more dry and grassy rock ground, yucca palm trees and rust-coloured bushes at their sides. Maybe twenty metres below them, the river still rushed by, now becoming broader as they were heading to the point where it would flow into the lake Tails had mentioned. Sonic would have been lying if he had said the water closeby _wasn't_ making him uneasy, but right now his fear was more of an annoying buzz somewhere on the edge of consciousness, as opposed to a German alpenhorn wedged in between his brain hemispheres. In addition to that, he loved everything about this place – new, strange scents in the air, unfamiliar noises and an atmosphere of the unexplored – Sonic, who had been to most of Mobius twice over and more already, turned his head this way and that, relishing in every new sight to see.

And then he fell over a cactus.

Tails winced as another tirade of Sonic started up, glad that any and all animal life they had encountered so far was feral and hopefully couldn't understand the more colourful exclamations. He, for his part, was partly enjoying himself, even if slightly uneasy in this world from a book. Sonic was at home _everywhere_ and would neither mind living on another planet nor in another dimension, but for the little mechanic this world definitely held too much magic and not enough logic. _Reading_ about all that was fine, if it stayed on the pages. But he still preferred the real world where a blueprint was a blueprint, and…

...and one of his friends guarded an insanely powerful gem on a flying Island, and immortals passed by to have their lasers repared and your brother broke any one of Einstein's laws about maximum particle speeds just because he was bored today and…

…nevermind. Maybe this world wasn't so crazy after all. Just different.

Knuckles' raised an eye ridge as for no particular reason a content smile spread across Tails' face where he was walking next to him. Both of his companions seemed to be enjoying themselves, which left him alone feeling uncomfortable. He had only meant to be away for 24 hours and the Master Emerald was nearly defenseless.

(Well. Technically, Knuckles had set up enough traps for the next seven James Bond movies plus an entire season 24 to go with it, but he still felt it wasn't _enough._)

He turned his head to look at the fourth member of their group, who had appeared when her Master had been too busy to gawp at the surrounding landscape to watch his own two feet. Shahra had whisked out the needles with a wave of her hand, but hadn't returned to her ring since. She was actually looking a lot less cheerful than during the last part of their trip and Knuckles was wondering why. They were helping her, right? But somehow whenever she had appeared after they had faced the first flowery fiend, she had been…subdued, somehow. Distanced. Had someone said something?

Knuckles recognized those thoughts for what they were, distractions he was coming up with so he wouldn't have to think about how horribly he was failing his duty right now. And yet, his thoughts returned to Shahra once more. She was a liar, but had been rueful and tried to attone for her mistake. And then, Knuckles couldn't help but feel somewhat…appreciative of her. She had saved his life once, of course, but what Knuckles really liked was that when he had told her of his life as Guardian and Master of Angel Island, she was the only one he'd ever met who had not silently pitied him.

Well. Except Shadow, perhaps. But since you didn't know when he looked at you whether he was trying to remember your name or wondering where he should hide your corpse, there was no indication how the black hedgehog actually thought about Knuckles' duty.

But Shahra was different. No 'why don't you live a little?', no 'what's the Emerald ever done for _you_?'. Just a smile, a bit of awe, an understanding and encouragement. But there was still something that bothered him about her, yet he couldn't say what…

"Hey, there's the log with the spikeballs! Anyone wanna bet I can run circles 'round them?"

On second thought, scratch Shahra. He knew _exactly_ what bothered him about certain hedgehogs, after all.

"What part of 'no stupid things' don't you get, Sonic?" Knuckles grated, his homesickness and confusion about Shahra making him irritated.

"The 'no' part, I think." The blue hero grinned.

"Yeah. And it's exactly that behavior which got you into this mess in the first place, hedgehog," the echidna shot back, annoyed with the flippant attitude and feeling tense for no reason.

"And what exactly is _that_ supposed to mean, Knucklehead? Just because I'm trying to have some fun while saving the world-"

"'Fun' that means your heart burning up if you don't collect those rings for Erazor, yeah!"

Sonic's mouth opened, but no words were coming out. In the silence, the crackling of the flame on his chest suddenly sounded louder than usual.

"Leave me alone on that subject, Knuckles." The amused sparkle in his green eyes was gone. On the sidelines, both Shahra and Tails looked more than unhappy, not knowing what to say.

"Believe me, I would. If it weren't for the fact that your life pretty much belongs to Erazor at the moment, just because you riled him up. And _that's_ why you'll stop acting your usual, irrational self and _won't _do anything stupid. Got it?"

Sonic shot him a death glare and turned abruptly around, striding off. The log in front of them, with two gravity-defying giant metal spikeballs rolling around and around the cylindrical shape, was crossed by him without so much as a foot out of place. The blue hedgehog just walked up, waited until the first one had rolled past, took two steps to cross its path, then repeated the procedure until he was on the other side.

Knuckles looked grudgingly satisfied, but when Tails snuck a glance at his brother, he was more reminded of a display attached to something labeled 'Doomsday Machine' with red numbers counting down _fast._

The log had led to another ledge on the right side of the river canyon. There the two walls surrounding the wild water stopped, and a huge lake panned out in front of them, where they would have to fly down to. It was surrounded by more steep rock walls on most sides, but was filled with mini-islands they could run and jump across. There were also cacti as tall as houses in the middle of the water (which got a withering look from Sonic), and, finally…

A herd of diplodocids. The huge, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs stood dispersed in the lake, eating calmly either from the plants that clung to the rock walls, or bowing their heads down gracefully to quench their thirst. In the mild, silvery sunshine of the morning they could see the pastel orange colouring of the one closest to them, a young calf maybe three stories tall and grazing peacefully from another ledge in jumping distance. It was a picture of almost divine tranquility.

Which was broken when Sonic suddenly grinned, used a branch of a tree to acquire jumping height, landed on the head of the confused diplodocus and grinded down its neck, whooping all the way.

Knuckles and Tails stared after him.

"Maybe you shouldn't say such things to him, Knuckles."

"Hm."

"He tends do to stupid things then."

" Yes. I noticed."

xxx

They found him lying relaxedly on his belly on a boulder underneath what looked like a giant thistle. (Which was nothing new. Sonic basically had two operator modi, one of them requiring a pair of sneakers, the other something that gave shade plus an iced drink. When not running, Sonic was always reclining underneath _something._)

"Had your fun?" Knuckles asked, just a tad bit cooler than usual.

"I have, thanks," Sonic replied, grinning with his eyes still closed. "You found your way down here okay?"

'Here' being a long, thin streak of an island in the middle of the lake. It was surrounded by lily pads and had a lot more vegetation on it than the ridges behind them, some hundred feet further up. Sonic had reached it by running down the length of the dinosaur and jumping off its lashing tail tip. Knuckles and Tails had reached it by…well…

"That calf you grinded down went 'RONK!' and panicked. Its mother went 'RONK!', too, only _she_ thought it would be a good idea to thrash the ledge where that evil spiky thing that had hurt her poor baby had come from. Bottom line, we flew and were lucky that these things have an even shorter attention span than you. Now _why_ did you have to pull this stunt?"

Knuckles scowled, one hand giving Sonic a not-quite-gentle dig in the ribs with his spikes, but careful not to touch the wounds. The hot anger he'd felt minutes ago had given way to the usual mild irritation again, like an odd flux that he didn't know where it had come from. This jungle was different than the desert and it was making him feel all out of tune. Almost like there was some kind of odd, malevolent presence…

"Well, it's basically just something you said," Sonic replied, effectively cutting Knuckles' pondering short. The hedgehog finally opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but winced and instead slid down from the boulder entirely, still on his belly. "About my life belonging to Erazor. You know I hate having my freedom cut short, so I thought 'Hey, as long as I can still do what I want, my life's still mine', and, well…yeah."

"And right then you really wanted to run down a dinosaur."

Sonic shrugged. "Pretty much."

Knuckles sighed. Sonic was like a corkscrew. Sometimes useful, but completely twisted.

Not to mention that sometimes, you also wanted to ram him into things.

"But hey, where's Tails, actually? Didn't he come with you?" Sonic asked, less jocular. "The dinosaurs didn't hurt him, did they?"

"No. He flew up to the calf and is now trying to calm it by patting its head."

Sonic's eye ridges rose. "Really?"

"Yes. I told him he would have to hit it with a hammer to get it to notice him, but he didn't care. There he comes."

"Hey guys!" Tails called as he landed, panting, but smiling as he saw that the two older males apparently had settled whatever dispute they had. "I think Stompy is fine now. Can we go on?"

Knuckles and Sonic exchanged a look.

"You, hmm, named him, huh?" the hedgehog then asked, his lips twitching just slightly.

"Yeah, so? I always wanted a pet. And just so you know, now that he has a name you're not allowed to grind him anymore!" Tails added, his tone warning now, and Sonic raised his open hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Sure thing, bro, will do."

"Good." The fox nodded, chin thrust out and apparently satisfied. "When I was on Stompy's head, I could see some more of this lake. If we run along those islands, we can get to the other side, where there's a gap in the surrounding rock walls. The mountains with the pterosaurs lie in that direction."

"Did Stompy tell you tha-OW!"

"Right. Enough of that nonsense already, I want _out_ of this jungle," Knuckles grunted, having grabbed Sonic by his golden collar and dragging a gagging hedgehog behind him. "In that direction you said, Tails?"

"Get offa me!" Sonic complained, twisting in the grasp and wrenching himself free. In his opinion it was _Amy_ that needed to be chained up, not _him_!

xxx

Their way continued along as Tails had said, islands with only a few metres of water in between them making crossing an easy venture. Sonic wanted to run across another dinosaur that was dozing with its head on their current patch of earth and its tail end on another, but Tails stopped him and the hedgehog was forced to jump across the lily pads instead. Everyone (but Knuckles) laughed when another patch of deranged flowers vomited on the echidna and another ten minutes were spent while the Guardian took a quick bath in the lake to clean himself. Afterwards the flower monsters were worked into something resembling Ikebana by an enraged Knuckles, which led to a random nearby giant black stone exploding instead.

Sonic _slowly_ poked his head out from behind a boulder after all the fragments had rained down.

"…I vote we don't destroy any monsters anymore when there's weird-looking black blocks around."

Everyone agreed.

Maybe it was some strange trap by Erazor? 'Hey, let's have exploding stones!' or something? Robotnik and his talking letters announcing world domination seemed _sane_ in comparison.

"There is the gap in the stone wall!" Tails finally exclaimed as they had reached the fourth islet and were just descending a small slope on the grass. Sonic stopped dead.

"Tails…"

"Yeah?"

"You never said that this 'gap' was just another _river_!"

"Uhm, yeah…" the fox poked his index fingers together. He had not mentioned it, and the look on his brother's face indicated exactly the reason why. The hedgehog had dropped to his knees.

"This even looks like an _underground_ river! That hole in the rock wall is like the entrance to a cavern," Sonic moaned, "What if the ceiling suddenly comes down on us? What if there's an underground waterfall and not enough room for you to fly? What if there's evil, ancient cave men inside, all shooting with arrows at us and we drown while getting shot at and-!"

"I've ripped out some kind of tree. We have a log for going on another river ride," Knuckles announced.

"Isn't anyone _listening_ to me?!"

"Frankly, no," the echidna replied, pushing the log now dismembered of roots and branches, into the water where it floated serenely. "Now get on that thing."

Sonic tried to sit back, grimaced, then stood up instead and crossed his arms. "No."

"Come on, Sonic, you can do this," Tails tried to encourage him, and Shahra appeared, too.

"Yes, Master, this river is a lot smoother than the wild water currents from before!"

The hedgehog scowled, eyeing the waterway and his friends like someone would look at a used-car vendor who is just trying to sell them a car with no engine.

"No ceiling coming down on us?"

Shahra smiled. "No. Caves in the Arabian Nights are always filled with either treasures or secret passageways. It would not make sense for the hero to die a gruesome death of drowning in the middle of the story, would it?"

Sonic shuddered. "No. But I have a feeling this book is out to get me. It even flooded a freakin _desert_ when I passed by."

"Shahra said that it's not a dead end, now _move it_!" Knuckles urged. Usually it was Sonic who was so impatient. Oh, the irony. If his ancestors were watching him, they were probably having a blast.

"Isn't there any other way?"

"The walls are too high for Tails to fly you up and I sure as hell won't climb them with you clinging to me. Aboard. Now."

Slowly, with a look of utter distaste, the hedgehog finally edged into the water until he was submerged up to the waist where the log floated. Tails was already sitting on it and Knuckles stabilized it when Sonic climbed aboard, before hopping on it himself and the piece of wood got caught in the current, carrying them off.

xxx

The river was indeed a lot tamer, moving along at the pace of a speedy human runner at the most, and there were no waves and splashes. Sonic was sitting upright this time, leaning forward slightly, only his fingers digging into the wood and his twitching ears giving away his nervousness.

Still, he was managing surprisingly well…

They entered the cavern, rounded a bend, and Shahra suddenly appeared again, pointing forwards at some strange floating objects.

"Oh no! If those iron balls hit us, we'll fall into the water!"

xxx

"Okay," a considerably wetter Tails said as they had all climbed aboard again (or been dragged up by seriously pissed-off Knuckles respectively), "If you can keep him pinned down the _next_ time he panics, Knuckles, we might even _make_ it."

"I just don't like water," a sullen, equally drenched Sonic mumbled in between them, his ears flat against his head, just a tiny bit embarrassed himself.

"Yes, Sonic, we know that," Knuckles said, "But Shahra said something about 'iron balls' making us sink, not our _own team members_ flailing and knocking everyone else off the log!"

"Don't remind me," the hedgehog groaned, "I don't even want to think about that we're doing this to save _Robuttnik_ of all people. I must be going insane," he sighed, closing his eyes. It worked surprisingly well. His legs dangling in the water up to his knees constantly reminded him of his precarious position above the level of his enemy element, but as long as he couldn't see how narrowly his two friends dodged the giant, spiked metal spheres that for some reason swam around in the river like pufferfish gone mad, he at least didn't have to panic that badly.

There was also a strange, calm feeling filling him up, and Sonic needed a moment to realize that it was again Shahra in his mind, trying to help him. He welcomed it, since it kept the fear at bay, and felt like the mental equivalent of being scratched behind the ears. _Shahra might not know how to work magic very well,_ he thought, relaxing with closed eyes, _but she sure does know how to work hedgehogs._

Sadly, that also meant he missed out on all of the sights Knuckles and Tails were treated to. The cavern canal the log floated through was maybe ten feet wide in the beginning, but the ceiling was a stone sky, high and broad. The walls were of a deep blue mineral, and the water reflections rippling across them only enriched their beauty, everything shimmering like crystal.

Tails pointed at huge stalactites hanging down in wonder and Shahra added her part – according to the genie, the stone formations were actually cursed lovers, forever stretching out their hands from high and from low, yearning for each other. But after a thousand years they would be able to touch their mate and their souls would be free…

Tails then frowned before explaining that stalactites actually were natural stone formations and began to elaborate on the concept of precipitation of calcium carbonate, which ruined the atmosphere somewhat, and Knuckles wondered why everyone always had to _talk_ instead of being silent, but all in all, their ride was far from boring.

"Your words are strange, Envoy of Inari, but intriguing. Please explain them to me!"

"Well, you see, there's these small parts that make up matter called 'atoms', and-"

Sonic still refused to open his eyes, but if his ears and Tails' tone was anything to go on, someone was feeling mighty flattered to have such an avid listener for once.

Where the cavern opened into a wide cave, A parasaurolophus mother and her kid stared at the odd trio in wonder as they passed by. The surprised stares of the bluish dinosaurs with the red, trumpet-like constructions on their head, mirrored exactly the expression on the faces of the two-tailed fox' and spike-fisted echidna. They had nearly convinced Sonic to open his eyes as well, but by then they were already out of the cavern again and the shore came in sight.

"_Finally_!!" Sonic was the kind of person who could actually use multiple exclamation marks when happy.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like it's Christmas."

"It's BETTER!" Sonic had leaped from the log as soon as the solid ground was in jumping distance and hugged a tree out of sheer impulse and relief.

Which turned out to be a cactus.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Over 6000 whopping words. Count them.;)

Anyway, Part two of three of dinosaur jungle is over and I hope you liked it! :D Any and all water is actually the fault of the level designers, not mine...oh, and as a side note, I'd like to ask everyone reading this to answer the poll in my profile, concerning which story of mine ishould be updated more often, in your opinion. 'Wikipedia' is NOT available as an option, simply because in that case the poll would be _extremely_ one-sided...;)

Thanks for all your reviews and stay tuned for the next chapter:

**_Next Up:_**

**Chapter 15: Rescuing the King - Talk about a Cuckoo Egg...**


	15. Rescuing the Cuckoo Egg

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this game, there would have been actual lyrics in the vocal tracks, you know, like _more_ than five words per song.

**MegaHog14: **Yup, the cacti made a last appearance and left a stinging impression.;) Let's see whether Sonic can find some other mortal enemies in the next level as well…XD Thanks for the review!

**YumeTakato:** Heh, glad you liked them! Knuckles is a character with seriously underrated comedic potential. And those flowers were asking for it. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well, thank you for commenting! :)

**Asher Tye:** Ouch! They still need Robotnik, ya know? XD Hmm, yeah, I'm especially wondering how this looks to non-gamers. I mean, if I was reading this, I'd have suspected the author to be on crack as soon as the flying cookie jar popped up…although I honestly can't explain/describe the actions of those flowers other than vomiting, I'm sorry! And about Shahra…well, let's see, there should be some more shining through before secrets are revealed fully…thanks a lot for the review! :D

**Nintendo Mania:** (laughs) yeah, it's like that with me, too! I play through this level normally, then start wondering: Okay. Now I need to explain a randomly exploding stone to my readers. O.o And yup, Tails needs a pet. After all, he sure doesn't have much luck with plants. (gets bricked by Taismo fans)

**JudasFm: **The cookie jars…were okay. You just had to make sure nobody was watching you, because that pumping motion with the wiimote DID look rather odd if people didn't know what you were doing. XD The line about the iron balls from Shahra was taken directly from the game…at least _I_ was expecting Sonic on the log to panic at this point. ;) Thanks again for all these massive amounts of help! :D

**St.Noof:** …I take that as a compliment? XD Yeah, I was hoping for an appearance of Shadow in the game, too, though I had him pictured as Solomon…but whether he's in this fic you still need to read on to find out! ;) I also liked the bossfight in Pirate Storm – I can't wait to adapt it into this story! Thanks for the review, again! :D

**Tutis75: **Heh, thanks for telling me your opinion! It's actually looking quite good for the Tails fic, because somebody just condescended to lend me his Xbox for the next two weeks! :D Thanks a lot for the review. :)

**D.C.111: **(blushes) wow, THANKS! It's not everyday you get that nice of a compliment. :D Yeah, what is Shahra down about…? Must be something Knuckles said ;). And yup, that was me with the exclamation marks – to quote Terry Pratchett, they're 'a sure sign of a diseased mind'. But yup, whenever I'm trying to be serious _without_ the fourth wall constantly lying in shambles on my keyboard, I try to keep them in singular. Glad you liked the chapter and thank you lots for that nice review!

**crimson-obsidian-rose:** Heh, happy to hear that! Yup, with the crazy level-design, not enough action is the least of our heroes' troubles! ;) Next Sonic character…(puts hands on hips) why is everybody convinced I will even put in more characters?! Must be me being _really_ lousy at hiding plot points, I guess… XD Well, I don't think it'll take that long, at least for an already familiar one. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

**Ri2: **The level's idiocy? Why, just because we're first put up against The Dangerous Flailers and later have to fight against Evil Flowers of Vomit? I don't know what you mean…XD

Thanks for commenting, tho, glad to hear you still like it. :D

**Forgotten Muse: **Oh yes, Shadow would have looked so _good_ on that throne, too…(dreamy sigh) Ahem. Yes. I actually found that Tails, my usual victim, isn't the only one to suffer horribly this time around, but Sonic seems to be a good target for massive amounts of pain since he actually takes it in stride…I'll bet he'll simply _love_ the fifth world, too! XD

**Antithesis: **Heh, thank you! Yeah, the SatsR story lends itself to it – the worlds are too whacko not to be funny, yet the underlying story is serious. Glad you like this adaption. :)

**The Conflicted Writer: **Heh, happy to hear that! :D Yup, plotholes are nasty…falling and screaming readers all over the place, just because some authors can't be bothered to put up warning signs. XD Glad you found the chapter funny, torturing Sonic for some reason seems to have that effect. ;) Thanks for commenting!

**HyashiKnight:** Naaah, Secret Rings was a nice game, all in all. Once you had purchased some ring skills, at least. ;)

**Ember Rock: **Heyyyy, Sonic R?! :D I got that one, too, it's fun! :) Although….(worrying, evil grin)…you should watch out for the Curse of the _Tails Doll_ at night…mwahaha. ;)

But of course, thank you once again for that wonderful review! Heh, don't ask _me_ why Erazor decorates his jungles the way he does, I have given up trying to understand him. XD Though Sonic having that arrow in his chest pains me, too – I thought the idea in the game wasn't developed into its full drama potential, tho. Glad that the river ride cheered you up again – even if Sonic for some reason didn't enjoy it much? Thanks once again for taking the time for such a nice comment!

**StaR Productions: **Sooo many reviews….(starry eyed). Love your joint-venture name, btw. Very nice idea. I'm very happy that even while commenting on every single chapter in a row, you still managed to include details. Thanks lots again, I hope you like this new installment! (even if you voted for 'Life…' XD) :D

**NEJlbana: **(Does that penname stand for something…?) Believe me, I _know_. It's not a needle in a haystack, it's an atom of a needle in a freakin silo. However, if you're still looking for good Sonic stories, I suggest the guys on my fav authors list. Allstars, all of them. ;) Thanks a lot for the nice review, glad you like it!

**minipower: **Wow, hi there! Thanks for all those many reviews! I hope you like the new chappie, too – may I ask for which story you voted on that poll? XD just curious…please enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 15: Rescue of the Cuckoo Egg**

"Got all the needles out yet?" Knuckles _e_nquired innocently.

"I – _ouch –_ I _hate_ cactuses."

"Cacti, actually."

"I hate echidni, too."

"You only know one," the Guardian replied, and his tone at that cut the conversation short. For a brief while the only sounds were Sonic's suppressed wincing when he had located another small barb and pulled it out of his fur, privately musing that a hedgehog getting poked was maybe fate's idiotic version of a joke.

In the distance, there was a faint rumbling to be heard, and Sonic felt Shahra's presence as an uneasy stirring in the back of his mind.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she announced, but the Mobians didn't pay her much attention. After they had disembarked from the log (and Sonic had tried to molest the cactus) the new path was another narrow stone ledge, a rock wall with an overhang on the right side, and a deep chasm, filled with rubble promising broken ankles, to the left. It was at least broad enough to walk on it normally, though.

The roaring now seemed a whole lot louder, coming from somewhere further up the path. Tails also looked a bit uncomfortable now, but Knuckles was only ever worried if the safety of certain gem stones was concerned and Sonic was too busy hating pointy plants in general to pay any heed to it.

After the first few metres, the way curved slightly, and as soon as they had taken more than three steps around the corner, Knuckles in front of them halted.

"There's a huge rock blocking our path. Think you can fly Sonic over it, Tails?" he asked, indicating the giant stone and the rubble and mineral debris that must have crashed down in some rock avalanche earlier.

"What did you say?!" Tails called back from behind his hedgehog friend, yelling because the roaring was really loud now.

"I _said_ can you fly Sonic over the rock or will I have to take that 'legendary hedgehog' and _toss_-" Knuckles shouted, but then a crash loud enough to shatter your teeth with its sound waves came and drowned him out.

Tails and Shahra screamed.

It all happened in fractions of a second. First, there was a tall mound of rubble blocking their path and then suddenly there wasn't. In its place was now _another_ obstacle, and while stones would break your bones in proverbs only, the giant mouth of teeth that had replaced the debris would do so quite literally.

The T-Rex _roared_.

Sonic was too shocked to even note the fact of it being purple.

Stones had exploded around them as the dinosaur had blasted through, the Mobians frozen in place while the chunks of rock blew past them. Crashing through the mound of rubble hadn't even slowed the tyrannosaurus down, who had smelled the delicious odour of their meat.

Only last week Tails had watched a show on discovery channel that proclaimed the 'king of dinosaurs' had acually been an scavenger instead of the cliché fearsome hunter.

Now the fox wished very, very deeply for the director of that programme to get eaten instead.

Sonic's head whipped round at lightning speed, but his gaze only fell behind himself, where the water lay waiting in only a few metres' distance. In front, the charging T-Rex was filling up all possible space, its head bowed so low that running in between its legs was not an option. Only two seconds after the debris had been blasted away, gaping jaws had nearly reached them, and still none of them had moved. Shahra's fear was distracting Sonic. Tails was trying to lift off but the hedgehog could see he wouldn't even be fast enough if he left Knuckles and himself behind. The rows of teeth came rushing towards them like a blood-stained meat-grinder, a spin-dash only meaning Sonic would lodge himself in the mouth and get injured terribly, and _then_….

xxx

"Wow," Tails finally said after a few minutes of silent walking, "I didn't know dinosaurs could _nosebleed_."

Sonic merely shrugged. "Kiddo, I think _anything_ getting punched in the face by Knux will nosebleed, regardless of species."

In the distance, they could still hear the faint, terrified whimperings of a tyrannosaurus who had just decided to erase any and all traces of small, red, leaping creatures from its diet plan forever. And possibly turn vegetarian.

Sonic, however, had other things on his mind, quite literally.

_Shahra?_

"_Yes, Master?"_

_Shahra, you know it's 'Sonic', _Sonic thought, before pausing, not quite sure how to word the next sentence. He wanted to talk about how Shahra's fear had affected and paralzyed _him_, which had just now nearly cost their lives. But how exactly did you broach that subject?

…_I think you're messing up my mind? _

"_What?" _There it was again. The blue hedgehog had to check himself to not let his own eyes widen in slight shock, when it actually was his genie who was taken aback by his suggestion.

"_What do you mean, Ma…Sonic?"_

I can…feel what you feel. Again. And it keeps getting stronger. Sometimes it's a little…inconvenient.

"_Really? You know __all__ of my feelings?" _Sonic wasn't sure whether there was such a thing a 'panicked blush', but the current vibe of Shahra couldn't be described much differently.

_Nope. Just some of them. Right now you just panicked. _

"_Oh. Well."_ The spirit girl paused here, too, and when she continued, her mental voice sounded very quiet once more, even in the stillness of his mind, _"I will try to keep it in check. That has never happened before. Maybe it is…maybe it is because I was never that close with any other Master."_

Sonic was stumped as he didn't know what to reply to that, but was saved when Knuckles spoke up instead, drawing the attention of the group to him.

"How far will it be to the pterosaur's nest from here? Maybe we should start looking for a place to rest if it is much longer."

"And maybe grab something to eat," Tails complained, "It's already afternoon, our breakfast was interrupted by a horde of crazy _dinosaurs, _and I feel like I have a black hole in my stomach."

They weren't that far away from the rock and gravel path upon which the T-rex had attacked them, but a gap in between the stones in front of them looked like a pass leading out of the barren landscape. At his call, Shahra appared.

"No, we should reach it soon. After that pass, we will have to cross the lake one last time to the mountain cliff where they have their roosts. It is not far."

"Good." Knuckles nodded. "Why was that thing attacking us, anyway? I always thought tyrannosaurs weren't much for hunting. Or those triceratopses," he added, but then began to frown, "though for some reason I can't help thinking that _those_ were angry because of something else."

Sonic pulled at his neck ring again, and hoped to everyone who was listening that his innocent smile looked convincing. Luckily, the echidna wasn't paying any attention to him.

"No, really. It's like there's something making everyone and everything be on edge," Knuckles said, including, but not mentioning himself in that. Shahra looked like she was about to reply something, but was cut short as soon as they rounded the corner.

"Wow guys, look, it's a _catapult_!"

Knuckles sighed. This wasn't a prehistorical world. More like a giant theme park engineered by someone with a sum of money disproportionate to their amount of common sense.

"Sonic? You haven't been meddling in the entertainment industry recently?"

"What kind of question is _that_?" the hedgehog briefly looked up from where he was busily investigating the contraption. It looked a lot like the ones he had seen in his history books in primary school in the chapter about Romans, except a lot smaller and painted red and blue.

And of course, a seventeen-year old Sonic now had the exact same idea his _seven_-year old self had already been day-dreaming about. Growing up was something that happened to retirement home inhabitants, in Sonic's opinion.

"Guys, let's catapult ourselves!"

Both Knuckles and Tails first shot him, then the wide space opening up underneath and below their cliff face a look.

"…I'll glide."

"…I'll fly."

"Oh, come on!"

"Look, why do you even _want_ to catapult yourself?" Knuckles asked, grasping at his forehead. Some people had merely _lost _their marbles, Sonic was the kind of guy who threw them into a active volcano while laughing, then asked you to repeat the process.

"Knux, Knux, Knux." Sonic shook his head. "Why do people climb mountains? Because they're _there._"

"Who said that?"

"Reinhold the Mess."

"The _what_?"

Sonic shrugged. "Some human dude, a mountaineer. Used to be known as Reinhold Mess_ner_, but only until _after_ they'd pulled him out of that avalanche."

"_Sonic…" _

Sensing that quite soon he would take an _involuntary_ flight off that cliff if he didn't stop riling Knuckles up, Sonic took a step back, holding up his hands.

"Whoa there, cool. If you two don't wanna take the catapult, I'll just wait for you where I land," he said, grinning and giving a sweeping gesture with his arm to the landscape behind him. After they had passed through that gap in the rocks qualifying as a pass, the three Mobians had come to a halt on an outcropping. It held exactly two items, a catapult and a spectacular view.

Beneath them another giant lake panned out, but this one wasn't dotted with flat islands, but tall rock formations instead. They had holes in them and ledges, were slim and broad in places, spiralled into the sky like solid conic helixes, and held enough space for plants to grow and flying creatures to roost on them.

And the tallest one in the distance held a nest with three giant eggs and one pterosaur sitting in it.

Tails pointed to it, rising into the air excitedly "That must be our destination!"

"Yup, and I'll reach it first," Sonic said, grinning and climbing into the bowl-shaped launching pad of the supposed siege weapon. It was exactly big enough to hold one average-sized Mobian.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Tails asked, slightly nervous. "I mean, you _could_ land in the water…"

Sonic seemed to hesitate for a second, but then shook his head. "Naah, there's so many cliff-things I should be able to hit at least _one_. And besides, I still have Shahra with me if things go south, literally."

"Okay…" Tails frowned, still not looking very convinced, but the hedgehog just grinned and gave him a thumbs-up before pulling the lever and being hurled into the sky.

xxx

"And I'm _still_ hungry," Tails said as they both watched the small spiky figure soaring in a wide arc and then disappearing behind some of the closer rock formations. His tone suggested that seeing your brother blasting himself out of strange contraptions was not nearly extraordinary enough to compare to his own upset tummy and Knuckles realized it probably wasn't.

"I can catch some more fish tonight," the echidna replied, though that didn't seem to cheer the little fox up much.

"Uhm…race you to Sonic?" he asked, somewhat helplessly, mentally cursing the hedgehog seven times to hell and back that he had to get settled with _this._

Tails, however, just gave him a smile that suggested he knew exactly what was going through the echidna's head, but appreciated the effort.

"Sure!" A lop-sided grin. "…if I beat you, I get the biggest fish this time."

"Then you better start twirling your tails, kid - 'cause I'm already gone!" Knuckles smirked, launching himself off the cliff in mid-sentence. Behind him, an indignant squeak and a 'No fair!' issued from the cub, but at least Knuckles had successfully managed to distract him.

The Guardian wasn't sure whether Sonic was acting normally or even crazier than usual, but he was wondering whether the hedgehog wasn't trying to live life even more to the fullest now that there was the danger of it being cut short by that arrow.

His fist would have clenched if it hadn't interrupted his flight. He wasn't particularily _fond_ of Sonic, but didn't want to see him dead. And now Knuckles also had to put up with his antics, unable to feel righteously angry with him, because being mad at someone who was carrying something potentially lethal in his body left a bitter taste in his mouth. _Damn_ that Erazor…

"Heya! Look at this!"

Beside him, Tails had just done a loop-de-loop, cheering and taunting Knuckles to glide faster. The echidna's hand relaxed the tiniest bit as he spread out his dreadlocks some more to catch a warmer air current. No need to tell Tails about these depressing theories.

Besides, racing against someone who _couldn't_ break the sound barrier for a change was actually fun. And the fox kit wasn't the only one with their eyes on that biggest fish tonight…

xxx

Sonic soared through the air, whooping and arms stretched wide as if they were wings. Underneath him, cliff islands and patches of water rushed past, and for once the latter didn't make him panic, but the tingle of fear just added to his excitement. Flying was _exhilerating._

"Master! You will crash!"

…yeah. There had just always been that _tiny_ problem.

"Nope! Just watch me, Shahra!"

…which Sonic had solved a few years ago.

Their flight was curving downwards now, pointing to a grassy ledge on some rock formation close to the one with the nest. Sonic executed a homing attack at nothing in particular, which angled his path in such a way that it was aimed at the broadest part at that ledge, then curled up and hit the ground spinning.

Shahra closed her eyes at the resulting spray of shredded plant, earth, rock, and very unfortunate insect life. When Sonic had stopped, he was sitting in a crater about two feet deep, his quills rumpled but his body unharmed, save for a few cracks opening on his scabbed wounds.

"Cool, huh?" he flashed her a grin as he dusted himself off. Shahra was once more shaking her head, smiling in amazement.

"You broke your fall through rolling. That was really clever!"

"Eh, nothing much. Ever played Zelda? Though Tails usually has to do the damn water temples for me, stupid mazes, all of them…"

Shahra just stared at him. Sonic sighed.

"Never mind. Let's just head towards Eggman and his dinner date. Mark my words, Shahra, never go out with a lady who has offspring." The hedgehog flashed her a quick grin at that, then yelped as his foot caught at something in the bowl-shaped hole and he stumbled forwards, catching his balance barely. Sonic whirled around with a snarl, determined to make life _hell_ for any plant stuff that was giving him any more shtick today, but then his eyes widened.

"Hey, look at that!" he exclaimed, his emerald eyes set on a ring of the same colour, previously hidden well within the foliage. Shahra clapped her hands.

"It's another one of the seven World Rings!"

"Cool, I can brag about that when Knux shows up…"

Sonic grinned, his hand closing around the engraved circlet at the same time.

'Learning' and 'Sonic' don't go together very well.

The hedgehog screamed as once more sparks and light danced across the ring and his arm as if he had been trying to poke a ball-lightning.

"AH! This _power_…!"

Shahra winced and looked at Sonic worriedly when the shock subsided as soon as it had come, the hedgehog now holding the ring in both of his hands, panting.

"This must be what has driven the spirits mad, I think…" the genie mused, eyeing the ring with concern.

"What, those crazy flowers?"

"Yes. Mary Sues do like to assume the shape of flowers and other pretty things, but it's only recently that they behaved _this_ way. Of course, there was one ancient text who mentioned Mary Sues and vomiting were very closely related, but I can't remember the reason anymore…" she trailed off, while Sonic frowned.

"Well, I think I just had enough of that."

He briefly turned around and shielded his eyes against the sun, thinking he could see two small dots in the distance, closing in rapidly. Knuckles and Tails would be there in just another few minutes. He looked at Shahra again.

"…speaking of which, as Genie of the Ring, can I ask you for a favour?"

"_O Master, your wish is my command,_" Shahra replied, bowing her head slightly and smiling. Sonic didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused, but decided for the latter. Shahra sure liked her old-fashioned wording…

He pointed to his heart. "Now that you've become stronger from yet another ring, do you think you could take this judgement thing out of my chest for me?"

And the smile was gone as quickly as Sonic on a water surface.

"…I am sorry."

"Hey, no worries," the hedgehog tried to reassure her, taking care not to sound too disappointed. It had been a weak hope, anyway. "Cheer up," he said instead, "No adventure is fun if it's too easy, right?" With a slightly guilty smile he added, "Although it would have been nice if your magic _did_ work, in any case…"

Shahra averted her face at this, and Sonic immediately could have slapped himself. But really, it wasn't _his_ fault. Most of his acquaintances were either used to getting shot at by megalomaniac evil overlords, or were quite trigger-happy (make that _hammer-_happy) themselves. Delicate constitution wasn't really something he had learned to deal with yet, and Sonic felt it was mildly unfair.

"Hey, Shahra, Knux and Tails are almost there. Let's keep going, okay?"

"Yes!" she nodded, as if doubly intent on pleasing him now that she hadn't been able to help him.

"I win! Fish for me!" Tails cried as he landed on the ledge and Sonic shot him and the echidna a curious look.

"…okay. Speak after me, li'l bro. First: I am not Ali Baba. Second: Neither am I a feral seal."

"No!" the fox waved his arms, exasperated. "I won the _race_! Meaning, I get to have the biggest portion tonight."

"Is that so?" The hedgehog cocked his head with a sly grin as Knuckles landed next to him on the rock. "You refuse to race _me_, but accept challenges from others? I'm _hurt_, dude."

"Good. Remind me to accept races from others more often, then," the Guardian replied dryly, receiving a snort from the hedgehog as answer.

"Still, good work, kiddo," Sonic said, ruffling a delighted Tails' headfur, "'least you showed Knucklehead that he can't beat either of us, huh?", he asked, chuckling at the little fox' huge grin at his appreciation.

"Hey, did you find another ring?" Knuckles suddenly pointed out, noticing the green circlet that Sonic's free hand still clutched.

"Oh, this. Yeah, it was somewhere 'round here. Pretty weird, though. Shahra says this is what makes the flowers and those other henchmen act crazy."

"Hmm." The echidna looked at the ring with narrowed eyes. He was naturally attuned to Chaos Energy, and these rings weren't that different, even if he could only sense but not channel their power. Knuckles was able to tell apart all of the seven Emeralds with his eyes closed, their respective auras each different. The rings seemed to be similar…and this one was bad. Hateful. He couldn't word it any other way. He thought of his sudden anger with Sonic a few hours previously and wondered whether it had had anything to do with this. Rings screwing around with feelings? The other one in the desert hadn't done much, though, they had all been just happy to find it…

"You should be careful when handling those things," he said, finally, "I don't think they're just looking pretty."

"Hey, you know me," Sonic replied light-heartedly, lodging the second ring on another quill.

_Yes, unfortunately I do_, Knuckles thought privately, but aloud he managed: "Let's go find Robotnik. The sooner this is over, the better."

xxx

It was a long and steady climb. Knuckles went up first, while Sonic and Tails could use the holes his knuclaws had made easily for hand- and footholds. The fox kit wasn't much for flying at the moment, just hoping this day would please include something to eat soon, Sonic feeling vaguely guilty every time his kid brother's stomach growled.

Knuckles finally dragged himself over the edge and onto a plateau. It was…big…

"Hey, why'd you stop? Move!" Sonic called from below him, feeling the brittle stone underneath the tip of his sneaker giving way ever so slightly, and ready to bite into Knux' tail if the echidna didn't let him up soon. His own one still hurt like hell, after all.

"Yeah, yeah," the Guardian mumbled, moving aside and reaching down absent-mindedly to pull the other two up with one hand.

But his eyes were still fixed on the giant nest in front of them.

Birds used twigs to build a domicile. This creature had used _trees._ The young flexible plants were interwoven with lianas in some kind of strange braiding pattern. There were three huge, leathery eggs lying inside it, yet the mother was nowhere to be found.

"There!" Shahra suddenly pointed to the sky and all heads whipped up to see the dinosaur circling overhead, screeching now that it had been discovered.

"It must have been searching for more food and took its prisoner with it!" the genie exclaimed, and now they also thought they could see a tiny, round, wriggling figure dangling from its beak by their cape…

"Nooooo! Help me!"

Sonic groaned. "Oh, great. Robuttnik's in way over his bald head _again_. I mean, crazy watergods, rebelling hedgehog robots, freeing chaos-blasting ultimate lunatics I will not name - honestly, when's this man gonna _learn_?!"

At this point, the overweight man seemed to recognize the hero come to his rescue and pointed at him.

"You there! Spiky thing!"

"That's it. Tails, Knux, stop sniggering, we're leaving."

"No! Do something! Save me!" the King still struggled in the dinosaur's grasp, who was circling above them and maybe wondering whether the three tiny creatures would perhaps pose a threat to her eggs.

"Sure, 'buttnik, just tell me _how!_" Sonic shouted back up, irritated by all the screaming of his archenemy. He himself couldn't jump that far and he was damned to hell if he sent Tails into an aerial battle with something quite literally armed to its teeth.

"No worries!"

"Huh?" Sonic and Tails turned around and looked at Knuckles. The echidna had just lifted a rock slab roughly two times as high as himself over his head with one hand and was seemingly aiming with the other.

"We'll have them down in a jiffy!"

Overhead, the screaming of both dinosaur and human was now a lot louder, and noticeably higher pitched.

"Knuckles, _don't!_ You'll squash them!" Tails shouted, alarmed, but by then it already didn't matter anymore. The mommy pterosaur had dropped her prey in panic and the King was now rushing downwards to the water surface _fast._

"AHHHHHHHH…!"

Shahra gasped and squeezed her eyes tight shut, not wishing to see his death. But no splash came, and she cautiously opened them again…

Her master was flat on his belly. On the other side of the plateau.

"Guys? Little help here?" he asked, his voice strained. Sonic's arms were dangling over the edge of the cliff where he had flung himself down to catch the cape of his nemesis where he would have soared past. But even though he was trying to dig his toes into the earth, the sheer weight of the human was threatening to pull them both down, inch by inch…

"Knuckles! We need to help them!"

"Sure, _now_ my strength is suddenly in high demand…" the echidna grumbled, but of course would not have let anyone in danger down. With relative ease, he grabbed the clothing of the King, and heaved him on top of the cliff without so much as an ungently bump.

Shahra gave a sigh of relief, while Sonic merely rubbed his shoulder, on his face a smirk.

"Geez, Doc, do you have to eat so much thrash food? I swear you get heavier everytime…"

"How _dare_ you!" The human, obviously back into full emperor-mode again as soon as the most immediate threat had passed, pumped his fist angrily in the air. "I am the King! Must you be so rude?!"

"Sor-_ry_!" Sonic waved a hand in a fashion that indicated he clearly wasn't, before turning around to Shahra. "You know, I'm not sure we have to turn him back into Eggman at all. I mean, he almost _sounds_ the same, anyway…"

"Oh, but there can't be two characters that are the same once the original King Sharyar has returned," the girl replied, smiling. "However, maybe he has some useful information for us, now that he still possesses his memory of being the storybook King, before I return his orginal mind…" Turning around to the human, she asked politely: "Your Highness, where did the spirits that attacked your castle go?"

At that, the mustachioed man's rage seemed to vanish into thin air, to be replaced with sudden worry as if someone had announced a surprise visit of the Weight Watchers.

"It was just as I feared," the human said hoarsely, "he's gone ahead to that castle and it seems more minions are being assembled."

"Castle?" Tails echoed, confused. Hadn't they just _come_ from a castle?

"There's a giant fortress just ahead," Shahra explained upon seeing their questioning expressions. She pointed to the far horizon where the sun was setting and they could see the end of the jungle they had been crossing all day. Where the leafy canopy ended, lay another desert-like wasteland, seemingly set aflame by the fiery last rays of the sun for today.

But the most dominating feature of it was a huge building, a black silhouette against the darkening sky. It seemed almost Chinese to Sonic, who could make out three towers in the structure, a tall central one and two smaller replicas to its sides, sharply outlined. The reason for their Asian air lay in their pagoda-like shape, and the rolling eaves protruding from the edges as if the whole structure was trying to expand its reach into the landscape further. Atop of it towered a finial, seemingly asking for an angry lightning strike and yet standing defiant in its grandeur.

Shahra's tone was almost hushed as she continued.

"It is a relic from an ancient kingdom…"

"What kingdom?" Tails asked, curious, shielding his eyes against the light as he stared at the building in the distance.

"I am not sure…there once was a civilization of settlers from the Eastern Realms, I think, and they were masters of architecture and mechanics…but then for some reason, one day the people just…vanished. Some arrived in Sand Oasis, babbling incoherently about a terror they'd beheld, a terror 'mankind had called forth themselves'…but my Master at the time was not very interested in foreign politics. When I asked him what was happening, he just told me that it was none of his concern, whatever it was that had happened was now sealed off, and he was glad the "almond-eyes", as he called them, would hopefully leave now. I do not know what Erazor seeks in those ruins…"

The Mobians nodded as they beheld the sight once more, Tails suddenly feeling somewhat chilled, even if the sun wasn't completely down yet.

Something _evil_ dwelled there…

_To be continued..._

* * *

Wheee, I just got SonicNextgen and Crisis City is _cool_!

...right. Now that's out of the way, we can resume the story - is this man indeed Robotnik, and if yes, how did he get into the book? Stay tuned for the next part:

_**Next Up: **_

**Chapter 16: Telling Lies and Tales of Tails**

...and meanwhile, please review! :D


	16. Telling Lies and Tales of Tails

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this game, 'Iblis' would have been censored in the dialogue of Erazor. I mean, people could have a relapse.

**Ri2: **Hi there! Tikal? Who is this…Tikal…you speak of? (pushes Ri2 into plothole to hide screw-up) Naah, I guess Knuckles meant it in a way that Sonic doesn't really _know_ Tikal personally much. Reinhold Messner is a European, and the first guy to climb Mt Everest without oxygen gear. Water Temples in Zelda? I had the doubtful privilege to do every single one of them five times in a row because all of my friends gave their games to me! XD And mind you, I had to laugh at your Ifrit description – but hush! There's non-gamers present! ;) Thanks a lot for that review, though! :D

**StaR Productions: **I personally like 'Burning Arrow'more. I do invest the same care into both stories, though. :D Almond-eyes was just a small detail, nothing much to do with Sonic, in fact. In my mother tongue, it's an expression for people of Asian origin, because their eyes are kinda shaped like that – not used anymore, tho, because it can sound a bit racist. I think it sounds pretty.;) Most of the questions (with the exception of the one concerning the T-Rex, that's just because Erazor's taste in colour is screwed up) will hopefully be answered in this chappie. Thanks for the review and please enjoy!

**YumeTakato: **Knux is your favourite character, huh? XD Thanks for the review, our echidna will continue to star! :D

**sukura123:** Hi there, welcome aboard! Thanks for the review! :)

**St. Noof:** Am I looking forward to Sonic Chronicles? Hell yeah! :D I might even buy a DS. (And for further info on that subject, please check out chappie 2 of my 'Sonic Drabble Trouble!'…XD)

**MegaHog14: **Crisis City rocks allright. Too bad I busted that Xbox (not my fault!) before I could finish the game…dammit! Now it's back to watching the scenes on youtube, I guess…thanks for commenting! :)

**Feniiku: **If you feel sorry for that dinosaur, I'm sure Sonic, Tails and Knux would happily accept your self-sacrifice to get eaten instead…XD But I couldn't help it – purple dinosaurs just have this 'I deserve to get hit' vibe! ;)

**MoonlightWander:** I entirely agree. Water and Videogames just don't mix, and I'm not talking about throwing the console into the bathtub. But thank you for commenting!

**The Conflicted Writer: **Hey, bad game endings is what us fanfic writers are for! :D Unfortunately, I _still _don't know the Sonic Nextgen ending, anyway…thanks for taking the time to review!

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Heh, glad you liked that line, I had a lot of fun thinking that up! XD Thank you for that nice review, it's those that make fanfic such a wonderful hobby. :)

**Nintendo Mania: **Yup, that's always the trouble with Knux – he has a habit of becoming just stern and grouchy all the time. It's nice when you can see that he's also still a teenager, no matter what else. Hey, your guesses concerning Robotnik are getting dangerously close to my plot! XD I'm playing all three Nextgen stories simultaneously…thanks for commenting!

**Asher Tye: **O.o Everybody is on the side of the dinosaur. And yet nobody showed the cacti any sympathy? XD Your prediction for Robotnik's reaction made me grin…even if the story is gonna be a tiny bit different. ;) Glad you like the interaction of the chappie, and thank you for reviewing!

**Zap the Hedgehog: **O.o Thanks for the…caps? XD I'm happy you enjoyed the story and voted for it, I'll try to update it again soon! Oh man, there's quite a few fanfics that so should be made into books – we live in a world where the fanauthors are better than the paid ones! ;) Thanks for that enthusiastic review! :D

**minipower:** Hi there again! :) I hope you like the other stories as well and thanks for yet another review!

**D.C.111: **Well, who knows what Sonic would do if he was a little bit drunk? And O.o, a tornado?! Are you all right? I personally also found the mach speed part of sonic's first level harder than the Crisis City one…sorry for not getting to your story yet, but Japan is a time-consuming monster. ;) Thanks a lot for the comment, though! :3

**Rebell: **Heheheh, glad to hear that! Yup, Knuckles supporters FTW. Glad you like the little thoughts of other characters. 'Spiky thing' unfortunately, I can't take credit for, that's SEGA…however, I of course seized the opportunity to expand on it a bit. :P Ah, and yes, the rings, will they be more trouble than they'tre worth? Maybe a scary phonecall from Erazor stating that he will crawl out your TV in seven days…out of a screen of pink static. XD Thanks so much for the long review, and I swear those other replies will be on their way soon. ;)

**Ember Rock: **O.o That IS scary. I can't even watch horror movies alone…though I do like scaring the hell out of everyone else with other scary stories. ;) Glad you like the Sonic/Knux 'Differences of opinion' (XD) They're some of my favourite parts, too. :D Robotnik's rescue…yup, while Sonic won't let anyone die, he sure doesn't like to save him…as for poor Tails' hunger – be sure to see that problem solved in the new chappie. Please enjoy and thanks LOTS for that mammoth review!

**Puzzlechu:** (cute name!) I'm glad you like the story so far. Decided whether you like it better than 'Life' yet? ;) Thanks for all those comments!

**SexyShadowGirl: **Yup, the cacti were very much inspired by me playing this game myself. Hate, hate, hate those things…XD Glad you think this turned out well and thanks for commenting! :D

**I****lovecrazystuff11: **Heh, always happy when readers comment on the disclaimers, glad you like them. Now one update, as requested! :D

* * *

**Chapter 16: Telling Lies and Tales of Tails **

_Last time..._

_But the most dominating feature of it was a huge building, a black silhouette against the darkening sky. It seemed almost Chinese to Sonic, who could make out three towers in the structure, a tall central one and two smaller replicas to its sides, sharply outlined. The reason for their Asian air lay in their pagoda-like shape, and the rolling eaves protruding from the edges as if the whole structure was trying to expand its reach into the landscape further. Atop of it towered a finial, seemingly asking for an angry lightning strike and yet standing defiant in its grandeur._

_The Mobians nodded as they beheld the sight once more, Tails suddenly feeling somewhat chilled, even if the sun wasn't completely down yet._

_Something evil dwelled there…_

"Well, are you going to stare at this all day? Spiky Thing! Ready your fellow furry oddities to build a palanquin so you may carry me back to my palace!"

The rotund human did not exactly seem to care for the fortress much, though.

"For the last time, it's _Sonic!_ Shahra! Change him back before I feed him to that dinosaur for real!" Sonic shouted, trying to disregard the snorting coming from the direction of his friends.

"Why do we even bother to change him back?" Knuckles asked irritably. "He's irritating either way, and that's just wasting good magic…"

"Because I wanna know how he got here. Maybe he has a plan how to get out again."

"And you actually think he would share this plan with us? Don't make me laugh."

"If he doesn't want my foot up somewhere uncomfortable, he will. Ready, Shahra?"

"Yes, Master. With the power of two rings at my disposal, it should be no problem!" the genie bowed her head before floating over to the mustachioed man.

"Your Highness, if I may restore your mind…"

The King raised his eyebrows, apparently about to say something, but by then it was already too late. Just like the previous day, Shahra summoned a swirling white wind, shrouding both of their forms in an opaque cyclone that seemed to touch the sky. The Mobians watched, not as highly-strung as they had been when the girl had tried to bring back Tails' mind, but still tense. Sonic could feel the ring pulse again, though thankfully not nearly as worryingly fast as it had done then.

And when the white winds cleared, Shahra was also still there. She looked at them, flickering from exhaustion, but smiling and reminding Sonic a lot of Tails when he had achieved something and now looked to him for approval. He gave her a grin and a thumbs-up, which let her vanish into the ring happily, but then his attention too was taken up by the second figure in front of them, which was a very confused egg-shaped wannabe emperor. Upon the sight of his spiky nemesis, however, he seemed to get back into mental gear surprisingly fast.

"What the…_Sonic!"_ Robotnik shouted, his face immediately creasing into a glare.

"Hey there, Doc," the blue hedgehog greeted, head tilted to one side and his arms crossed casually in front of his chest. "Nice to see you, too."

In response, the scientist's hand immediately whipped down to his side, presumably grabbing for a laser gun or other kind of weapon.

He was very surprised, therefore, when it came up with what looked like a banana sword.

Sonic raised an eye ridge. "Am I supposed to feel threatened?"

A giggle from Tails sounded at that and a corresponding eye roll from the echidna followed suit. The sword clattered to the ground. Robotnik _slowly_ raised a hand to his head, very tentatively feeling the turban he wore. Knuckles let out a sigh.

"We're in the Arabian Nights and you thought you were some king. We're collecting seven rings to get out of here," the echidna stated, famous for compressing matters into very few words and apparently trying to set a new record.

"…indeed," Robotnik answered, letting his hand sink. Everyone only vaguely familiar with him could almost _hear_ the cogs in his head turning, and that was machinery powered by more than three hundred IQ points, at that. The scientist seemed to accept matters surprisingly quickly, which bothered Sonic, but he wasn't about to let that show.

"What, no 'Thank you for saving me, priority hedgehog'? I thought you had better manners, Eggman," he smirked, trying to claim the initiative again. "Spill the mean bean machine, Doc, I wanna know what the heck you're doing here!"

"That game, Sonic, was a somewhat desperate means I fell back on when I had to raise funds for the Egg Carrier. I would be grateful if you never mentioned it again." Robotnik scowled, resisting the urge to massage his temples.

"But how _did_ you get here, then?" Tails piped up. "It doesn't make sense!"

The overweight man raised an eyebrow. "I see you brought your two sidekicks. How wonderful."

"You call me his sidekick again, human, and all the power of the Master Emerald couldn't save you. Stop trying to get around answering that question," Knuckles stated coolly. Robotnik stared at him for a few moments, but apparently decided that he was in a bit of a pinch at the moment. After all, there were limited possibilities even for a genius when you were trapped on top of a mountain in a dinosaur jungle, and while Knuckles might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, he was certainly the most _persistent_ one. It pays to remember that even a blunt blade can do damage if it hits you hard enough, and, knowing Knuckles, that was about as accurate an analogy as possible.

"Yeah, tell us!" Tails also crossed his arms in front of his chest, boastfully imitating the two older males. "We got here because we read the book, but what about _you?_ You didn't even have it!"

Robotnik drew a slow breath, taking in the sight of the three Mobians in front of him, his eyes briefly resting on the flickering flame on Sonic's chest and the Arabian attire of the small fox. "…I don't know."

The faces of the Mobians immediately turned suspicious, but he waved them off. "My memory is a blank," he said, slowly. "How long did you say has it been since you arrived here?"

"Three days," said Sonic, his tone equally guarded. "We all got sucked into the book around the time of my birthday."

"Since your…your birthday!" the human exclaimed, his composure visibly broken for the first time. "It was still a forthnight away when I…I mean, the last memory I have from Earth is from the beginning of June – I must have been here for more than two _weeks_!"

"And that is such a catastrophe, how?" Sonic asked, disinterestedly examining his dirty gloves.

"Oh will you use your brain for once, you ninnyhammer!" Robotnik snarled, pulling at his moustache in frustration, "Just who is supposed to run my Eggman Empire when I'm gone?!"

xxx

About one plane of reality away, a small spiky figure was reclining in the massive, cushioned control chair of the Central Egg Base. Glistening grey fingers hit the enter key of the wireless keyboard in his lap with a leasurely tap, and the hedgehog sighed in content. He had just finished online purchase of those awesome state-of-the-art optic sensors (neon-red colour) he had always wanted. Not to mention the high-quality machine oil. Oh yes, and the nanite upgrade. Plus the laser cannon, not really necessary, but it had _style._

And if he had just sold the Egg Carrier on ebay for that, it was a minor problem.

It had put quite a dent in the Doctor's various bank accounts anyway, but who cared? The fool had completely vanished, without a single notice. For all everyone knew he could very well be dead. And there were all those funds, going to waste…

"Mecha-bot two. Did you order my titanium knuclaws?" A red, echidna-like robot with green glowing eyes and mechanic dreadlocks questioned, poking his head through the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Affirmative. Should arrive soon."

"Good. I look forward to killing the delivery boy." Robo Knux nodded, rubbing his metal hands together like the maniac he was. Then he seemed to get another idea. "Hey, how about we destroy some more of the Doctor's robots, just for the fun of it?"

The figure on the chair smirked and stood up. "Sounds good to me. Shall we blow up another base, too?"

"Hell, yeah!"

The blue and red robot walked out the door, laughing evilly. The hedgehog of them couldn't help but feel delighted. The Chaos signal of his loathsome organic copy had all but vanished from the face of the Earth, meaning he was basically on holiday for the first time in his existence. Metal Sonic gave a huge mechanic grin. This was the _life_!

xxx

Robotnik frowned. "…somehow I have the worst premonitions."

Knuckles scowled. "Not our problem. And I don't believe your amnesia story for one second."

Robotnik shrugged, unfazed. "So? What will you do? Try to extract the information from me with torture?"

"Don't accuse us of something _you _would do, Buttnik," Sonic scathed, narrowing his emerald eyes at the human. "We couldn't care less about your story," he said, not truthfully, but he could see there probably wasn't much info forthcoming from the scientist. "More interesting is, what do we do now?"

"Well, we go to that fortress, right?" Tails asked, pointing at the faraway building. "And maybe we make a camp-site, too, 'cause it's getting _cold…"_

"Sure, li'l bro," Sonic said, ruffling his head fur, "But question is, what do we do with ol' Egghead? I mean, the only way we could take him with us is if Knux _carried_ him-"

" - which I _won't -_"

"- so we're pretty much stuck here."

"Say, Sonic…it might be just the fact that I have a degree in combustion theory, but can you enlighten me why that flame on your chest is seemingly defying the laws of natural science?" Robotnik enquired at that, sounding honestly curious for once.

The blue hedgehog merely glared. "None of your business, Doc."

The human drew a patient breath. "I cannot say I particularly enjoy this either, Sonic, but I would have thought it obvious that we need to work together if we want to return to Earth. Therefore, it is necessary that you share your information with me."

Sonic seemingly battled with himself for a few seconds. Then: "I tangled with an evil djinn trying to conquer this world and he shot me with a magic arrow that's going to kill me if I don't stop him. Happy?" he spat, turning around abruptly and stalking as far away from the others as possible.

"_Master?"_

_Oh, not now, Shahra. Right now I really- _

"And _don't_ you think you can take advantage of him just because of that!" Tails shouted at that moment, suddenly hovering angrily in front of the egg-shaped human's slightly surprised face, "Because he could still take you _and_ Erazor on simultaneously, even with _ten_ flame arrows and his tail tied to his snout!" the little fox finished, making liberal use of one of Knuckles' more common threats towards the blue prankster for the last part.

…_actually, I think I'm fine right now,_ the mental voice of Sonic came again, now sounding a whole lot lighter than before, with the hint of a chuckle._ What did you want to say, Shahra?_

"_I think I can solve your problem." _

Sonic walked back to the other three, where Robotnik stood, looking strangely thoughtful and Tails was still panting, a hand from Knuckles on his shoulder to ensure that he stayed on the ground for the moment.

"Hey, guys," the blue hedgehog said, "Shahra says she can help us out."

"Yes," the genie appeared at this in a puff of smoke, Robotnik's eyebrows shooting up in surprise, "I can send him back to the Palace. Erazor won't look for him there, since he already searched through it, and there is lots of stored food for His Highness to wait until we have found the rings - or stopped Erazor - and everyone goes back to the world they belong in."

"…wait a moment. If there is such a distance between him and Sonic, won't he just become King Shahryar again? You said we had to stick close to that hedgehog if we didn't want to get absorbed into other stories," Knuckles said, his tone making it clear just how much he appreciated the idea.

Shahra shook her head, smiling. "Oh no, Guardian. History may repeat itself, but would you read the same book twice in a row? Once I freed him, the stories won't try to touch him again. Everybody knows that a story that becomes monotonous dies, after all."

"…if you say so, Shahra. Well. Anything to get Buttnik off my back, so please do."

Robotnik raised a hand. "Do I get a say in this?"

Three heads turned. "No."

"That is not very cooperative, Sonic," the Doctor admonished, putting his hands on his hips.

"You tried to kill me more times than I can count, Doc. How _cooperative_ is that for you?"

"That is exactly my point," Robotnik shrugged. "I regard killing you as _my_ prerogative. Therefore, I I shall aid you in collecting those rings. If I had known…no. No mere djinn is going to snatch my trophy from me. I insist you let me help."

"Well…" Shahra said quickly, before anything could escalate, "There is a big library at the Palace. It would be helpful if you could find out more about the locations of the other rings while we shall search the fortress."

Robotnik pursed his lips while the three Mobians exchanged glances. The Doctor's mind in their experience was like a mirror out of a carnival fair cabinet…perhaps shining and brilliant, but ultimately warped and never to be trusted. Plus, it was still strange that he did not seem particularly surprised about their predicament. And if Sonic hadn't already been used to the mad scientist, it was safe to say that the thought of somebody regarding his death at their hands as a sort of personal sports trophy would have freaked him out a little. As things were, however, he merely sighed.

"Whatever. Do something if you think it might help. If you try to send us to some place submerged in any kind of liquid, though, I'm warning you: It'll be _your_ hulk we'll use as a raft when we get there."

"Now, Sonic, what _do_ you think of me?" Robotnik asked, giving a faint smile. "After all, drowning you in the ocean would hardly be a challenge."

"Shahra, can you make him land on something unpleasant when you send him to the Palace, _please?_"

"I will try, Sonic…" the genie bowed, and when the human made no motion to object, she waved her hands about, creating a cloud of red smoke that grew ever bigger, until it encased the scientist completely. When it cleared, they were atop the cliff mountain alone.

"Creep." Sonic shrugged. "Okay, who feels like putting as much distance as possible between him and us?"

xxx

"So Robotnik is in the story, too," Knuckles mused as they were making their way down the cliff to solid ground again in near darkness. "I still wonder about it, though. His being here doesn't make any sense."

Sonic in front of him merely made a tired motion with his hand. "Yeah, I'm clueless, too. But we're not going to figure it out tonight. I just want to give everything a rest right now…would be cool if we could _leave_ him here, though," he finished, giving them a weary smirk over his shoulder.

"Think about the poor people in the book, Sonic," the echidna snorted. "That human is y_our_ responsibility."

"You're right, I guess…you holding up okay, Tails?" the blue hedgehog changed the topic, raising his voice to reach the small fox cub trotting along a few metres behind them. An amber furred head immediately snapped up.

"Uh…yeah! I'm good, we can go on!" he said, a huge yawn afterwards somewhat betraying the tough image he obviously wanted to portray.

A small smile tugged at the blue hero's lips. "Glad to hear that, li'l bro. But I think we _all_ need our rest. We have almost reached the forest's edge, anyway…"

Which was only the truth. Only a hundred yards in front of them, the trees stopped and vegetation became shrubs and dry grass again, before vanishing almost completely. Beyond that lay the reddish desert-like wasteland that also held the strange fortress they had beheld from the top of the mountain.

"I say we stay right here. Any objections to that, Knux?"

The echidna shook his head. "No. The forest should offer us a lot more protection than the barren land out there, so walking any further tonight wouldn't make any sense. I'll go get some food," he concluded, falling into their already established pattern easily. Sonic and Tails proceeded to clear the floor of pine needles, while Shahra again produced her magical fire and the sleeping mats.

When Knuckles returned to the successfully established campsite and everything they needed was finally there, Sonic couldn't help but think that they made one awesome team. He said so, and at least Shahra and Tails seemed to like the idea a lot, even if Knuckles privately thought that after their prolonged fight against Metal Overlord last year, he had a strong wish to smother Sonic whenever the hedgehog was about to start another speech on the 'Power of Teamwork!'

"What did you get for food, Knuckles?" Tails asked excitedly, all tiredness forgotten. "Did you get some more fish?"

"Nope, sorry, kid. It's fruit and vegetable night."

The little fox frowned, obviously not pleased. "…what kind of fruit and vegetables?"

"Cactus. Sonic ran into so many today, it seemed a waste not to use them." The echidna smirked, lowering himself and his load to the ground in front of the camp fire. Tails followed suit, inspecting the (thankfully a bit more diverse) selection of edibles and started peeling a banana. Sonic sat down, too, before wincing and deciding to kneel Japanese style instead.

The Guardian raised an eyebrow. "Did you hurt yourself some more today? I still need to re-dress your wounds and we're low enough on bandages as it is, you know?"

Sonic shot him a sour look. "No. Just my tail, if you absolutely need to know," he said, cheeks just a bit flushed, "And that's all your fault, too. You yanked it so hard it's been hurting all day."

Knuckles appeared unperturbed as usual, which was also the best method to annoy Sonic to no end. "Next time we go rushing down a waterfall I'll let you tumble to your doom. And you can quit whining, just sleep on your side during the night and it'll pass by morning."

"You sure about that?" Sonic enquired, his voice regaining his cocky tone at that. "After all, looking at how you obviously must have broken _yours_ already, I'm not sure I should take advice on the subject from you," he said, an amused glance from him indicating the red, zig-zagged appendage protruding from behind Knuckles.

"That happened when I was _six_, Sonic. I was all alone on the Island, there was nobody around who could help me splint it and after three weeks, it had healed crippled."

Sonic could have sworn that even his _flame_ had cooled down a few degrees.

"Oh, geez, Knux, I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"Don't bother." The echidna waved him off, but his icy tone had been replaced by the resignation of someone who had already spent a considerable time around the blue hedgehog and knew that Sonic put his foot in his mouth so often he could have lived on a permanent diet of sneakers.

The hero inwardly winced, only imagining what it must have felt to move about with the pain of a broken tail for _weeks_, when every single motion inevitably must have jarred it somehow…

"Uhm, maybe, you know, when we have saved this world, Shahra can heal-" he started, somewhat clumsily, but Knuckles shook his head.

"Not necessary. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hinder me and I can move just fine," the echidna cut him off, though his tone was a bit more conciliatory now that Sonic was trying to make amends. In truth, straightening his tail out would probably prove to be more of a nuisance than a help, since he would have to learn how to steer while gliding all over again.

Young Knuckles' first attempts at flight after his appendage had assumed its new form had been…_interesting_, to say the least. And probably utterly hilarious for any bystanders, so the young echidna for the first time had been glad that there weren't any others on the island. Sonic had once questioned him about some strange dents in trees and rocks in Marble Garden Zone, but there was a _reason_ Knuckles wasn't talking much about his past.

Now he could glide just fine, though, and since beauty wasn't really high on his list of priorities, there was no point in wasting magic. Medicine should better be left to manual work, anyway.

"Right. Dinner's finished, time to clean your wounds."

"…can't we skip that?"

"Hedgehog, by the time this evening's over, there will be either one or _two_ people with crippled tails. Take your pick."

Tails winced while in the background another episode of Doctor House ensued, and tried to hum to himself to tune out the hisses, muffled curses (and occasional insults) from behind.

It was a bit later when both of the older males were seated at the fire again, Sonic now sporting two brand new, clean bandages around his torso and a fitting expression to boot. Knuckles seemed to be in a slightly challenged state of patience, too, so the fox of the trio cast about for a topic of conversation, finally settling on a question that had been bugging him all day.

"Say…why does Shahra call me 'Envoy of Inari' all the time? It sounds…kinda cool, but I don't get it."

Sonic merely shrugged, trying to get a bit of his good humour back. "No idea. Shahra's got this title fixation, though. That's why I'm still trying to get her to call me by name and Knux is continually referred to as a newspaper."

"But…why 'Inari'?" Tails probed again, while a snickering Sonic ignored the echidna's sidelong glare. "It does sound familiar, though…"

"Good question. But why don't you ask her yourself? Hey, Shahra!" the blue hedgehog called, addressing his ring with the last words and the girl appeared in an instant.

"Oh Master, what is thy wish?"

"For you to call me Sonic. But actually, we're having a question."

"Yeah," Tails piped up, "Who's this Inari guy?"

The girl appeared surprised for a moment. "You don't know your own heritage, Envoy?"

"Ehrm…" the fox rubbed at the back of his head. "Well, I'm an orphan, I didn't really inherit anything…but now I have my own workshop!" he proclaimed proudly, sounding quite pleased with himself.

Shahra merely gave another curious smile. "That sounds wonderful. But I was referring to your divine origin."

"…okay…" Tails leaned slightly backwards. "I think you've got the wrong kit, Shahra. I'm not really anyone special…" he said, looking at the ground and twiddling with one of his appendages, a bit embarrassed.

"But on the contrary!" Shahra objected, "You are a _kitsune_! A powerful fox spirit, heavenly messenger of the goddess of Inari, I thought it was common knowledge where you came from."

"Oh, you mean because I got two tails," the little fox exclaimed, sounding almost relieved. "No, that's just a mutation. I'm no heavenly messenger, I leave all the weird stuff to Sonic."

Shahra winked, more than enthusiastic now that she was in her element of legends and myths. "Don't be so quick to judge, Envoy. Sometimes stories and dreams can become reality."

"Eh…" Tails still wasn't utterly convinced. He had heard a bit of the legends of _kitsune_ before of course, but never thought that it could seriously apply to him. But then again, in a storybook world anything might be possible…

"I'm sure you are of _kitsune_ kin," the genie nodded, apparently thinking that this would be good news to Tails. "You'll even grow more tails as you grow older!"

"Eh…wait, what?!" The amber-furred fox had suddenly dropped his namesake in shock. _That _had not been part of what he read.

Shahra, oblivious to his expression, quickly nodded.

"They can go up to _nine_ if you're lucky!"

"Shahra, stop it!" Sonic shouted, although he was having a hard time breathing in between his laughter, watching Tails staring in panic at his own behind. "You're freaking him out!"

"Oh no! Did I?" Shahra clasped her hands in front of her mouth, seeming genuinely taken aback. "I'm so sorry!"

"You know, maybe you should just call him 'Tails' instead."

"It's…it's okay," Tails finally managed, a fine red tinge on his cheeks for losing it in front of Sonic and Knuckles. "I'm good. I'm not afraid I'd ever grow more tails, hah!" he called, giving them a weak grin and hoping his heart would stop trying to imitate Sonic soon.

"Really?" the blue hedgehog asked at that, raising an eyebrow and glancing at a point behind Tails. "That's good, because you just got a third one."

"WHAT!" The fox spun round in a milisecond, then started to death-glare at his bigger brother who had keeled over laughing on the log he had been sitting on.

"That's not _funny_, Sonic!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" the blue hero tried to right himself again, still chuckling. Suddenly, though, his back arced and he yelped.

"OW! What-?!"

"Oh, _I'm_ sorry." Knuckles, who had inconspiciously stood up and wandered behind the hedgehog during his joke on Tails, now gave his (very unconvincing, since he was smirking) version of an innocent face. "And here I was, thinking the Legendary Hedgehog had suddenly grown another heavenly tail, too. I just wanted to check."

"You Knucklehead! It's still sore, you didn't have to _yank_ it!" Sonic complained but thought privately he had probably deserved that one.

"Well, how else is one supposed to check? You don't have to worry, though. There's still only one there."

"Har-de-harhar," Sonic replied, but couldn't very well stay sour long enough since both Tails and Shahra were giggling now. Instead, he merely kicked his legs out in front of him and motioned for his little brother to sit, too.

"Enough of this tail stuff. How about some _real_ ghost stories?" he asked, the glint in his emerald eyes now visible even when he wasn't staring into the flames. "After all, this _is_ a camping night…" he let the sentence trail off, grinning.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea, Ma- Sonic…" Shahra piped up, somewhat timidly.

Sonic frowned. "Why not? I'm a _good_ storyteller, Tails can vouch for it. I even know some really cool ones! See, there's this one with a seriously disturbed Mobian cat father, y'know, and he looses his kit in a car accident, but there's this weird Human Cemetery and he hears that if he buries the corpse there for one night, his kit will-"

"Master! Please!" Shahra squeaked, cutting Sonic off. The hedgehog had been getting ever more intense during the last part, his chest flame providing the ideal illumination for his face, while Tails had been hanging at his lips, eyes wide. The small fox was usually thrilled by Sonic's scare stories, often trying to put on a brave face through whatever gruesome scenes the hedgehog could conjure up. He was actually getting better at it, too, even if Sonic still knew he had reached his goal as soon as the namesakes of his li'l bro started to resemble electrocuted hamsters.

Now, though, he sighed. "What's the matter, Shahra? You don't like ghost stories?" he asked, quietly wondering to himself why this scene suddenly seemed so awfully familiar. And why he was now missing Chili Dogs, at that.

"No, that's not it," the genie shook her head, "But we mustn't tell such tales! For in the Arabian Nights, stories can come _alive._"

Sonic briefly checked the current fuzz-factor of Tails' appendages, then threw Shahra an approving look. "Hey, you're _good_ at this!"

"No, I'm serious! Please, it could be dangerous!" The genie pleaded, trying in vain to get past her master's warped sense of humour.

"C-come alive?" Tails asked, a bit timidly. He _really_ liked their ghost story sessions, but only because the rational part of his mind was there to assure him that all of this couldn't possibly be real. Now with this option in jeopardy, he wasn't sure this was such a good idea. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Sonic shrugged. "Just don't stand in front of mirrors at midnight and call dead ladies' names."

"Why not?" Tails enquired, fascinated in horror despite himself. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Sonic, quit it. We should just go to sleep." The echidna didn't like to admit it, but this was actually starting to get under his skin, too. Even if the stories the hedgehog quoted were already so old they needed a walking stick.

"Yes, Sonic, please," Shahra also repeated. To Tails, she added: "Try not to think about it. The more afraid you are, the more power a story gains to become reality. This entire world runs on _feelings._"

Sonic now actually had trouble hiding his grin. Shahra might not mean it, but the genie was currently doing everything possible to add to the atmosphere.

"Yeah, Tails," he said, voice as light as possible, "Try not to think about the banshee, too."

"B-ba-_banshee?!" _

"Yes…" Sonic bent forward ever so slightly, "About the banshee that got betrayed by a pregnant fox mother who had promised the creature her firstborn…in return for showing her the way out of a moor in darkness, you know? And now the banshee is looking each night for that fox kit in _revenge!_"

Sonic hissed the last word, Tails had almost completely vanished in his sleeping bag in panic, Knuckles was just about to clip the hedgehog round the ear for his idiocy…

…and that was about the time when they all heard the distant, but blood-curdling, furious, otherworldly shriek.

Everyone went very silent.

"Congrats, hedgehog," Knuckles said icily, "You just earned yourself the entire night's watch."

_To be continued..._

* * *

Poor Tails. Poor, poor Tails. See profile for further info on that subject.

Well, as long as I'm really rudely neglecting the replies for all of my other fics, I thought I could at least care for this one, otherwise it would break up the pattern. Next update should come from my home PC, tho, Japan only lasts for 5 more days...;)

And man, so many fanfic references in here…first off, there's 'Ninnyhammer', an insult frequently used in Figtreeofyourimagination's AU fics where Sonic is a grumpy magician, the character of Robo Knux (as seen in Sonic R) is hopelessly plagiarized from Netraptor, and finally the campfire scene is one big hommage to JudasFm (who else?) who wrote a somewhat similiar scene, though with not quite as disastrous results…XD

Plus, the riddle of Knux' odd tail is solved. Who'd a thunk it? :P

Next Up is the third level of Sonic and the Secret Rings with arguably the best background music! So, stay tuned for –

**Chapter 17: Evil Foundry Ho! **


	17. Evil Foundry Ho!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this game, they would have used something different than balloons for shooting practice in the party mode. Like Chris.

**Asher Tye: **Heh, thanks! :D Already some ideas as to how Robotnik got in here? ;) Would love to hear them when the explanation should be here! As for whether Tails might be have somehelicoptery additions in the future – only time will tell. Mecha and RK finding out how exactly a trash-compactor looks from the inside is much more probable, tho! XD Thanks for the nice comment, again. :)

**crimson-obsidian-rose:** Heh, that with Knux' tail was a sudden idea that struck me – I believe I first wondered about it when somebody asked Brain once why his tail was so zig-zaggy and not smooth like Pinky's. XD Sonic can be just as evil as Robotnik, methinks. :P Though the good doctor should be useful at a future point…;) Thanks for reviewing, rose!

**Megahog14:** Not the last stories told in this fic, I can assure you. ;) After all, what else would be the case in the Arabian Nights? And as for Sonic's stories – I recommend Steven King's 'Pet Sematary', if you wanna get the full story…:P

**OvErLoRd Darkspine: **(somebody likes random capitalization?) Heh, the idea of stories coming to life is a li'l tidbit I borrowed from Terry Pratchett. ;) You got to think of them as a kind of spirit-like being, without a body. Just thoughts. Happy to hear you liked it, tho, and thanks for commenting!

**Ri2: **Heheh, yeah, I happen to like Mean Bean machine quite a lot and Mecha and RK just rule. :P As for Robotnik going with them…well, just read on and find out, he's not our of the world…;) And indeed, Kitsune are heavenly creatures – though I doubt even a god's relative could do anything to stop the horror that is Sonic. XD

**D.C.111: **Thanks! Glad you like the characterization of Shahra, sometime I wish SEGA would have given her some more chara development. And oooooh, yes, I HAVE heard of the Black Knight game! A sword, huh? Well, I hear Link getting some fast competition…XD Thanks for taking the time to review!!

**keem: **(random side-thought: What the heck does 'rara avis' _mean_?!) Heh, thank you! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. :) And yup, 'banana sword' had me giggling, too – sad, but true. XD A sonic unleashed adaption – I would like to, if I find the time. However, when you look at my 'future projects' section on my page, you'll see it is quite full. .

**SexyShadow Girl:** RoboKnux is a trademark character of SEGA, but they only designed his general appearance and nothing beyond that point. He starred in a spin-off game. The real RK that we all know, love and fear is almost exclusively due to the design of Netraptor. :) But do you really want to know where Sonic would shove a cactus if I dared to put in another one? XD The info section on my page – well, it's mostly about why Tails is usually THE target of bad luck in my fics. (blushes) thanks for that nice comment!

**Nintendo Mania: **My guess is he modeled himself after the ridiculous AoStH version so the game would sell better. ;) And…"just smile"?! ooooh, you just gave me _ideas._ And everybody mentions the Tails Doll…now I _need_ to bring him in. x.x About the borrowed Xbox? R.R.O.D. unfortunately. I thought of hanging myself, but didn't want to give Microsoft the satisfaction. No story cleared, sadly…:P

**The Conflicted Writer: **There are actually plans for Sheherazade, you'll be surprised. ;) I know about the erasing from the time-line, only I want to play that game while watching the cut scenes…so, I might have to wait some time, again. . But thanks for the nice review! :)

**Yume Takato: **Thanks! (yes, he did XD)

**Ngandu the Croc**: (any family ties with Vector…?) Not a catcus exactly, but you'll see. :P Sonic will never learn, tho, methinks. XD Glad you like both of the stories and thanks for taking the time to review!

**JudasFm: **Thanks! ...now can you please update one of your stories? XD

**Ember Rock: **(blushes rather furiously) wow, THANKS! Glad you liked the Mean Bean ref, I like that game a lot. And I can't help myself with the fangirlism for my fav authors, I'm sorry…XD And yeah, they did wayyyy not enough with the arrow in the game! I'm intending to remedy that (Starting with the title of the fic!) Mythology and stories in general I find fascinating, so there'll be lots of that stuff.:) I'm really buzzed that you like the fic so much, so I'll just hope you'll enjoy this chappie as well! And thanks again for that massive review. :D

**MoonlightWander: **Heheheh, yeah, same problem here! XD Thanks for the review, have fun with the new chappie, please! :)

**StaR Productions: **Heh, yeah, I do tend to do a bit of research here and there when I'm in the mood – went to wiki and found out which fruit grow in Arabia, for example. XD And RoboKnux and Mecha seem to have quite the fan club here…and you like Knux in here? Then prepare for one _evil_ cliffhanger…:P

**Blue Mage Quartet: **(wherever did that penname come from…?) A triple-tailed Tails would be…odd. Let's just hope that Sonic's story-telling won't have any repercussions, right? XD Glad you like the concept, tho, and thanks for the review!

**Cap'n Chryssalid: **Heh, thanks! I'm glad the characterization works for you, I was mostly inspired by the authors on my fav list who shaped the cast in my mind. I hope you'll find it suitably thrilling as the tale goes on. I generally try to alternate between action-orientated chaps (the actual levels) and character-relations sections which would be the evenings consisting of mostly talking and exploring the issues that got brushed over in previous chapters, as you said. Thanks for that deatailed comment!

**Courtney Llyod: **I'm not sure whether I have your address, but if yes, then sure!

**LunaLynx: **Your wish has been granted – thanks for commenting!

* * *

**Chapter 17: Evil Foundry Ho!**

Despite all Shahra's assurances that the scream didn't absolutely _have_ to come from a bloodthirsty monster witch bent on sucking their blood, and that it would be perfectly all right if she alone just kept watch as usual, nobody slept very well during the night. Consequently, it was a very tired and very grumpy bunch of Mobians that made their way through the desert-like wasteland in the morning, grumbling about how the sun was too bright, the fortress too far, and Chaos Emeralds never around when you needed some.

The mood was not improved when they arrived at the building and the door was shut.

"And meanwhile, Eggman gets to sit in the Palace on that bouncing castle that qualifies as his behind. That's like, _so_ unfair," Sonic complained, gazing up where the walls of the massive structure climbed into the sky.

From up close, it was even more impressive than from afar. The whole place had a forbidding feel to it, even in the midday sun. Everything about it was _massive._ The entrance was a huge steel gate that not even Knuckles could dent in any way (which frustrated him to no end).

Despite that, the building did not seem like an actual fortress - there were no fortifications or defence systems like a drawbridge or crenels. It wasn't like a Palace, either – beside the eaves, there was no decoration whatsoever, even if its sheer size was impressive enough. Rather, it could be described as almost business-like, the round pagoda consisting of heavy, square stone blocks, with pipes jutting out here and there, either broken or still leading somewhere into the earth and running up and down the walls.

Tails scratched his ear. "Now what do we do?"

Sonic shrugged. "Well, we'll have to find another way in. Knux, how about making a hole into the wall instead?"

"Already tried that. These stone blocks are more than six feet in diametre, going through there would take me more than an hour."

"Hey, guys! Round the back is a window!" Tails suddenly called, darting back to his friends. "I even looked inside already, it's amazing! Like a giant factory!"

The 'window' Tails had located turned out to be higher than fourty feet from the ground and more of a hole in the wall than anything, but with the help of the pipes even Sonic could reach it without trouble. As soon as he had pulled himself up to the fox and echidna, a wave of heat struck his face.

"What the…this is even hotter than the desert air! What kind of place _is_ this?!" the hedgehog exclaimed, staring down into the hall alongside the other two. Below them, there was…machinery.

It was by no means as sleek and shiny like in one of Robotnik's fortresses – instead, it appeared archaic to the modern Mobians, who had difficulty even making sense of what the machines were for. Rusty reds and bronze were the primary colours in here, and a lot of it already seemed broken. There was artful architecture, high arcs and mosaics laid into walls and the floor, but the impression of a mosque was almost completely drowned out by the ancient technology displayed everywhere. Huge pistons were moving next to the wall, but not connected to anything anymore, their work mindless and futile. Square machines with strange holes squatted in front of them, some already crushed by a partially broken down ceiling, some connected to tanks. The sound of hammering clogged their ears and the scent of hot metal and coal fire was overwhelming.

"This is not just a factory, Tails…" Knuckles said, slowly. "This is a foundry."

"A foundry?" the fox echoed, eyes wide in fascination. "But what would they be producing?"

"Well, only one way to find out, right?" Sonic grinned suddenly. "Everybody, follow me!"

A blue blur shot down the wall they were standing on, Knuckles wondering why Sonic always seemed so enthusiastic to head into disaster. He already didn't like the place. The echidna had always preferred the outside…and he could almost sense that they weren't alone in here.

Sonic, however, was in a far better mood than he been during the morning. His metabolism was finally waking up and while the hot, stale air in here wasn't his favourite brand of breathing stuff, at least he wasn't always consciously aware of the flame arrow stuck in his chest anymore – the former warm patch was now average temperature at best.

His fur was already starten to damp with sweat, but the blue hedgehog didn't care. This was just like old days in Robotnik's factories! (At which time he'd been scared stiff beyond belief. But when Nostalgia enters the ring, Actual Memories usually takes first a hook to its metaphorical jaw and then a backseat).

Sonic did a sharp ninety-degree turn to the right when a few machine parts tumbled down from somewhere higher up (was this entire place falling apart?) and feet in red sneakers tore down through an alley of high-stacked barrels instead, jumping over a few that lay on their sides.

"Sonic, watch out!"

"Woah! Who's the big guy?!" At the warning of Tails, the blue hero had frantically screeched to a stop. From behind a wall of containers had suddenly stepped a robot, almost five times as tall as Sonic himself. It was fashioned in a crude human form, his head merely an upside-down flowerpot shape set atop an equally clunky rectangle torso to which two log-like arms and legs were attached. Slowly turning cogs were exposed everywhere and its eyes, only painted on, were blind. Nevertheless, each step it took shook the room – before, they had thought the dull thumping was merely another piston. Now it was approaching them in a manner that indicated it would stop when Mobius ceased to exist and not a minute sooner.

"Just leave it to me." Knuckles, who had glided down with Tails after Sonic, had alighted atop one of the towers of barrels. The robot took another step forward towards them and both hedgehog and fox had started to back away a little, tense now. Knuckles lunged for its head.

At which point the robot merely turned around.

"Eh…Knux?" Sonic asked, scratching his head as he watched the surprised echidna now clinging to the back of the mechanical creature, his calculated jump messed up. "Were you planning to piggy-back it to death?"

The echidna merely snarled something that was probably better lost in the background noise of the foundry, while Tails looked confused. "I don't get it. Why isn't it trying to attack?"

The robot, apparently oblivious to its imminent dread-locked demise right now attempting to crawl ontop its head, indeed appeared rather non-threatening. Right now it had just turned around for a second time, which showed it was walking in a circle, before a spiked fist smashed into the center of its head and the robot went down like a broken toy.

Well. Like three tons of metal nearly squashing Sonic and Tails in the process, actually, but you get the idea.

"Weird…" Tails stepped closer, apparently wanting to examine the thing, but Sonic grabbed his shoulder.

"No time, bro. We need to find Erazor before he runs off again. He's here somewhere."

"But why wasn't it attacking us? It was…just walking," the fox argued, even while he was led away against his will.

"Kiddo, in this world there's a _lot_ of things that don't make sense and that's coming from the guy who plays chicken with roller coasters," Sonic merely replied, happily thumping his own chest.

"…I think it was not a robot, but a golem."

"What?" Three heads turned to the genie who had just appeared. Shahra nodded slowly. "Yes…I remember now. The foreign craftsmen working here were producing golems – an entire army."

"Aren't golems made from clay?" Knuckles enquired, while they were crossing the huge hall and now approaching the opposite end which led onto a low staircase.

Once there, though, going further became just a _tiny_ bit more difficult.

In front of them the floor had broken away and only a _very_ thin catwalk to one side of the wall remained. Which would not have been a problem per se - yet the giant floating spikeballs that were soaring up and down on it already made things a teensy bit more delicate. The only way through seemed to be shuffling very fast indeed while the spiky metal orb had just gone upwards and pass its path before it came crushing down on you and tore your impaled corpse into the abyss. Repeat three times.

Oh, and _then_ there was the matter of the two fire-blowing purple-black henchmen. Once again, the things seemed to be mentally challenged when it came to notice the three Mobians standing only _a few feet to their side_ at the edge of the chasm, but they more than made up for that by blasting the ledge with flames at random intervalls.

And the only door leading out of this hall was at the other end of that long, long ledgewalk of death. Sonic took a step forward. Crossing this section would recquire extreme caution, masterful timing, and nerves of titanium.

Alternatively, of course, a flying fox friend worked just as well.

"Heh. That was easy!" Sonic grinned as Tails dropped him on the other side, panting. Knuckles, crawling along the wall and giving off the impression of a red, spiny spider high above any crazy metal spheres (if Erazor messed up stories, he apparently did so thoroughly) soon joined them. He looked around suspiciously.

"Anybody else just heard a bunch of people saying 'I wish _I_ could have done that!' ?" he asked. Hedgehog and fox shook their heads, but Shahra just smiled. "Oh, that! Well, we're in a story book after all – didn't you know that sometimes the characters can hear what the reader thinks?"

Sonic shook his head, slightly perturbed. "I know why I don't read much. Books are crazy, all of them."

"Not to forget that they have the disadvantage that you have to sit still for more than two minutes," Knuckles muttered under his breath, slightly pleased to hear a small giggle from Tails at that. Louder, he said: "But my question remains – _aren't_ golems made from clay?"

"Well, technically, yes," Shahra agreed, "but I think what they were trying to create here was a new kind of golem – a mechanical version fashioned from metal, more robust and versatile."

"But…that's just a robot. Why are you calling it 'golem'?" Tails asked, having listened in to their conversation while the small group had now passed under a stone ark that was the exit of the great hall they had just come from. It led into a broad corridor branching off, light filtering in through windows at their side and mosaic decoration more abundant. Pipes still lead along cracked, ochre walls and metal barrels were placed here and there, but it did look nicer.

"No, there are differences," Shahra explained, "It's a golem because its 'life' is still tied to the tablet in its head, on which its creator wrote a special word to let it move by itself. It will stop working as soon as that plate is removed or destroyed, though, no matter whether the body is still functional. That was why the golem collapsed when the Guardian hit in the head – he shattered the tablet," the genie finished, Knuckles and Tails listening with interest.

"That…tablet…" the fox kit said thoughtfully, "Could it be called the CPU of the golem, then? The main processor?"

"I do not know the things you speak of…Tails," Shahra replied, smiling, "But these tablets also hold the magical power that makes the golems move without requiring energy from outside, ever. Is that what a ceepeeyou does?"

"Wait…these robots are running on _magic?_ They just work without any kind of fuel?!" the little fox asked, suddenly sounding slightly disturbed.

"Well, yes. Their creators are great wizards. _All _golems are working because of magic!"

Sonic soon saw Tails walking next to him, looking slightly sick.

Robots and machines. Last heaven of logic. As a firm believer in science, Tails thought that having to watch the First Law of Thermodynamics getting thrown out the window and in front of a magical juggernaut just wasn't _fair._

"Urgh, can you _believe_ it? _More _of those henchmen!" Sonic groaned at that moment, momentarily distracting the others. At the end of their corridor, four green-printed spirits floated high in the air, only a little more pudgy than their purple counterparts. Suddenly, though, the blue hedgehog's exasperated expression turned into a grin as his gaze also fell onto a metal barrel in front of them, lined up straight with their intellectually impeded enemies.

"Hey, guys…" he said, slowly, "…anyone got a bowling score sheet? 'cause I sense a strike coming up."

Shahra's eyes widened abruptly as she realized what the hedgehog was up to.

"Sonic, _no, they're filled with fu-!"_

Sonic had leapt into the air, curled up, shot forwards spinning and sent the barrel flying.

"…el," the genie said very quietly as she looked at where all of the three Mobians had been slammed against the wall in the shockwave of the resulting explosion of fuel-barrel hitting fire-djinn. As she watched, a wide-eyed, soot-stained Knuckles slowly peeled off the wall and slumped down onto his face with a _plonk_.

"Oh dear," Shahra muttered.

xxx

"OW!"

"Shut it."

"_OW!" _

"I said _shut_ it."

"And _I_ said _ow_!"

"Knuckles, don't you think that's a bit harsh?" Tails asked tentatively, wincing as he watched Sonic being dragged down the corridor by his ear.

"He blasted us into a _wall_!"

"But I did get rid of the spirits, didn't I?" Sonic asked, raising a finger while stumbling along and trying to lift his head.

"No talking, freak."

"Ow! Knux, either you stop this _right now_ or I'll make Shahra turn you into a frog! And then I'll give you to Big!"

Knuckles briefly halted, glancing at the genie. "Can you do that?"

The girl looked at her fuming master, worried. "Turn you into a frog, yes. Into a somewhat spiny one, anyway. But I don't know who this Big person is…"

"No need to know, either," Sonic wrenched his head free from the echidna's now limp grasp, massaging his abused ear with one hand and shooting a baleful glance at Knuckles. "Big is a nice enough guy, but you've got yourself grandchildren by the time he's uttered a complete sentence. But at least he could teach this jerk some _manners_!" the blue hedgehog snapped, prodding Knuckles in the chest.

A very badly singed dreadlock chose that moment to fall off.

"…you were saying, Sonic?" Knuckles enquired pleasantly.

"I couldn't _know_ these barrels would explode when they went flying against the spirits, could I?"

"No, Sonic. You never know. And you never _think_, either," Knuckles merely stated coldly, before abruptly turning around and striding off.

"Spines grow back, you know!" Sonic called after him, before sighing and running a hand through his own quills. "Besides, I got blasted worse," he muttered, scowling a little. Looking at Tails, he added: "I did, didn't I? I was closer at the time."

The fox nodded. "Yeah. But you still look better than any of us."

"I know. Weird, isn't it?" Sonic asked, resuming their (now slightly limping) walk again. He had gotten bruised as he was smashed against the wall just like the other two, yet his fur was barely singed. There weren't any serious burn injuries among them, but fox and echidna both had various black patches and a few places where their pelt was now a bit thinner. Not to mention they now emanated a slightly...unpleasant…smell, reminiscent of a barber shop set on fire. Had Shahra perhaps protected him? But why not the other two?

"Knuckles seems to be really mad at me this time. Rats," Sonic said, biting his lip as he watched the straight back of the echidna retreating with a brusque air in the distance. They both trotted along the corridor a few dozen feet behind the Guardian who didn't even look back once. About the correct route there was no question anyway, since there were no intersections or doors to the side. They lost sight of Knuckles when Sonic had to stop to adjust his bandages again (a procedure that was much more motivated from the desire to not tick off the volatile Guardian further, rather than a feeling of necessity on Sonic's part) and the echidna turned a corner to the left, now almost a hundred yards ahead. Sonic and Tails quickened their pace, passing random blazing ovens to either side that made the stifling air in the factory even hotter than before.

"Ugh," the hedgehog commented aptly, tugging at his golden collar instinctively as if that could help him breathe more easily.

It was at that point that a door attacked him.

"What the-?!" Sonic jumped aside just in time. The wooden fiend, seemingly impassive concerning its failed assault, merely snapped back against the wall.

Sonic blinked.

It was a door. It was also a door without a frame, a door without a handle, a door that didn't lead _anywhere_, a door that just consisted of a rectangle plate of wood, ornately decorated, whose hinges were attached to a wall and which sprung open every few seconds for no apparent reason.

But it still didn't change the fact that there _were_ more pitiful enemies than vomiting flowers after all.

The hero of Mobius shook his head. "Tails, keep a camera ready. When Erazor comes rolling past on a unicycle, I want a picture. Geez, at least Robotnik knew how to build a goddamn Evil Fortress…"

The little fox grinned, happy that his bigger brother still didn't let the arrow get to him as much as he'd feared. Once again, his small chest filled with pride to have such an awesome guardian who never let anything keep him down for long. Tails had already forgiven Sonic for blasting them into a wall and was just hoping that Knuckles would, too.

Judging from the door enemies on the other side, that had been reduced to very small splinters just twitching sadly on the floor by now, the echidna's mood had not yet improved, though.

The two unlike siblings continued further down the corridor, half-heartedly side-stepping the doors that had survived the echidna coming through, a few of them actually equipped with spikes now. For Sonic, it felt as if Erazor had been reading "Level Design for Dummies" and was still baffled by the basics.

The corridor ended halfway up in the side of a huge, round room, a metal pathway leading downwards to the hall's floor in a circular trail along the walls. It was apparent why they hadn't run into Knuckles yet – clearly, the echidna would have launched himself and glided down instead of taking the longer route on foot. Sonic just nodded to Tails once and then the pair was off as well, Sonic's feet clattering on the steel grids rapidly while Tails' fuzzy appendages whizzed through the air like rotor blades as they gave the kit the boost to keep up.

Lazy golden sunlight falling in through the windows higher up flitted across their fur as the two rushed past, the metal groaning under the strain Sonic was putting it through. Rusty old pipes to their right side blew faint gusts of steam where they were punctured. The sheer drop on the left didn't seem to bother either hedgehog or fox kit.

"Knuckles!" Sonic called again while running, cupping his hands in front of his mouth to increase the volume, "Knux! Quit being such a jerk, I'm _sorry_!"

The last one of his cries was barely heard as once again, the characteristic rumble of a golem's steps half drowned it out. They spotted the metallic mannequin marching where the metal pathway ended on the floor, and Sonic's eyes also fell onto another three silver barrels standing in their way.

He screeched to a halt, and the same brain that had let him down so often in pop math quizzes of childhood past, now did something rather complicated involving the distance from the barrels to the golem's head, the weight of the three objects, and the angle of a homing attack-induced flight path.

Sonic grinned.

"Hey, Tails, stand back while I try that with the barrels one more time-!"

The golem exploded before his eyes.

...or at least, his head exploded and a loud crash cut him off as the thing fell to the hedgehog's feet, stiff and lifeless. Emerald eyes snapped up to see a Very Angry Person standing atop the fallen machine, still clutching half of a smashed magic tablet in their two-spiked fist.

"One word, hedgehog. One. Word."

"Hey there, Knux! Thought you'd never wait for us," Sonic replied without missing a beat, "Was it too boring alone after all, huh?"

"Uh, Sonic…" Tails interjected timidly, since he could see all the little signs in Knuckles' face to know that this time, he was seriously angry. The little fox knew it was time to stop fooling around as soon as the Hardening Of The Jaw took place, not to mention the Special Frown.

"Last time you blew us into a wall. This time, you could have brought this foundry down around us," Knuckles said, his voice cold enough to make the hedgehog shiver despite the hellish temperatures inside the factory, "I have to stay in the same chapter as you, hedgehog, or else I'll lose my mind,"- he paused, muttering "If only the alternative wouldn't yield the _same_ result," - before continuing loudly: "But that's the _only_ reason I'm sticking around. I have too many responsibilities to die next to you because of another puggle-brained idea. You never learn, you never _think_. And I want you to stay as far from me as possible."

So saying, Knuckles turned again, marching down the corridor the golem had blocked, leaving the pair behind once more. Sonic's mouth opened and closed a few times before finally yelling: "…fine! Be that way! Please don't ever think that maybe I would've had that explosion under _control! _Echidna!"

Tails just sighed unhappily, disliking it whenever the two older males fought, but at the same time at a loss to prevent it. He knew from experience that if he tried to intervene, Sonic would feel hurt that his li'l bro wasn't fighting at his side, while Knuckles wouldn't accept anything towards peace negotiation that didn't come from Sonic himself, which was part of his ancient honor code.

_Sometimes,_ Tails thought dreamily, _I wonder what it would be like to have a __normal__ family. _

The journey continued in uncomfortable silence after that, Sonic letting Knuckles have his space, at least, and not insisting on catching up. Their surroundings changed into something of a mine shaft, with random flames bursting out from the sides and spikes jumping from the floor to impale unwary feet.

"The air is so hot in here," Shahra commented helpfully, drawing attention to herself for the first time after an hour.

Sonic responded with a weak smile. "You're not gonna evaporate, are you, Shahra?"

She gave him another one of those surprised stares of complete incomprehension before then a first giggle escaped her lips, her Master's humour slowly beginning to take root. She tried to straighten her face again to continue, though.

"No, but – I was worried about the Guardian. He didn't take anything to drink with him. Maybe he is becoming dehydrated."

"Knux? Not likely," Sonic snorted, "He's probably the one who could stand any kind extreme conditions longest of us. Well, except Shadow, anyway. My metabolism burns up everything way faster than his, so as long as I'm fine, he's fine. Besides, at this point he'd probably throw the bottle at my face if I offered it to him. Nope, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

"But Knuckles has our lunch food…" Tails pointed out.

"…Okay, maybe just walk a _little_ bit faster."

xxx

Knuckles dodged a whirling, blood-spattered blade of giant vertical fan blocking his path without even consciously realizing it. They were probably heading through a ventilation shaft, a part of his brain suggested, and the monstrous wind-mill-like razors had once been used to propel air into the parts of the foundry where the fires burned. Now they were death traps for travellers.

Another part of the echidna's mind was already making technical notes to install them on Angel Island.

A lot of the fans were already broken, though, or their rusty arms only moved as sluggishly through the air as the limbs of an old human with arthrithis.

Knuckles resisted the temptation to take his anger out physically by punching the thing to bits. He had done that enough today, and it was by no means dignified.

By no means dignified, no matter how much his homesickness pained him, no matter how much that hedgehog managed to get more stupid by the hour, _no matter how annoying his own burn injuries still stung while that blue idiot had somehow survived nearly unscathed, NO MATTER HOW-!_

Knuckles forced a growl through clenched teeth and tried to breathe deeply again to calm himself. It worked to an extent. The echidna briefly contemplated how far he could be from Sonic and whether there was any way to fight a story that wanted to take over your mind. The mere thought creeped him out, as did all offensives that were mental rather than physical.

_Damn you, Sonic. What did you get me into this time? _Knuckles scowled, while at the same time being aware that of course, it wasn't directly Sonic's fault. The hedgehog hadn't planned any of this.

_Yeah, with the IQ of a sandwich short of a bread slice, how could he have?_ The Guardian thought to himself and snorted, even if a small, (but currently overruled) part of his mind tried to remind him that Sonic wasn't really as stupid as he acted most of the time.

_Whatever. Doesn't change the fact that the __really__ responsible party here is that Erazor clown, _Knuckles cut across – well, cut across himself, really - _ If he hadn't messed up the book, I could be on Angel Island now, I'd be able to feel the presence of the Master Emerald, I'd be able to eat some __grapes__. _

A noise cut him off next. Violet eyes focused on its source. It happened to be a group of four monster puppets, one of them small, stocky and green, the other two the same shape but purple, and the fourth bigger, black with magenta and white markings and hovering above a barrel in their midst.

Knuckles smirked like the evil twin of the Cheshire cat.

It wasn't undignified to attack enemies.

xxx

Robotnik turned another page of the ancient tome he was currently studying, his mental capacities dissecting the old poems written therein for clues conerning the rings with ease. There wasn't much that withstood 300 solid IQ points (well, besides certain blue pests, anyway) and the scriptures, even though written in old-fashioned Arabic were not even a challenge for the overweight genius. Then he winced as his behind reminded him again that it would much rather continue the procedure while standing. Sighing, Robotnik got to his feet and laid the book upon a podium instead.

Honestly.

Which kind of sultan kept pet _porcupines_?

xxx

Knuckles charged, his blows as precise as they were deadly. He launched himself into a jump, taking out the green forefront henchman, then twisting in midair past the big, black one and driving his knuclaws deep into the skull of a purple puppet as he came in for a skillful landing behind the group. Both creatures exploded into a whirl of light that seemed much too beautiful for the abomination that had spawned it, but Knuckles, who had landed on one knee, was used to this and didn't pay much attention. Instead, before the second purple monster could even realize what was going on it had already been vaporized by a forceful kick of a green-and-yellow boot, punching its jewel straight through its papery chest.

Now only the last one, probably the leader, was left and the crimson echidna turned around in one fluid movement. The thing hovered lower now, in perfect punching height and Knuckles didn't think twice, nor left it time for a counter-attack. A random thought questioned why the colour of this one was different, and whether he hadn't seen a djinn like this before and what they could possibly do…

His fist went through where seconds ago the creature's face had been before it had spun away. Dumbly, Knuckles realized that he had still hit _something_, which was just before the barrel, that had stood behind the black puppet, was knocked backwards by the force of his puncturing blow and sprayed its oily substance all over him.

"_Knuckles!"_

The echidna's head whipped around to see Sonic at the other end of the corridor, looking terrified at something past the Guardian. Then a hiss behind him reminded the echidna what exactly made the black djinn so special.

It was the last thing he saw as a ray of fire erupted from its mouth toward his fuel-drenched body.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Hi there! :D Before you ask, yes, massice cuts have taken place for this level. Those of you who played the game might have an inkling as to why. ;) Also, I'll probably have to cut back from the weekly update rhythm to a two-weeks version, since I'm going to Australia as a backpacker soon for about a year and will only find internet cafes every so often. :P

Apart from that, tho, I hope you liked the chapter! And yes, I do like cliffies. Very much. Since this is Knux and not Tails, tho, he might actually have a chance at survival...XD

Please read and review!

_**Next Up: **_**Chapter 18 - Tied to the Flame**


	18. Bonded To The Flame

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, I'd have rubbed it into the Sonic Nextgen creators' faces. :P

**YumeTakato/Maguffin2: **Ehh, a screenname change? Okay then, how'd ya wanna be called? :3 Thanks for reviewing, too, glad you liked it!

**Nintendo Mania: **Oh, you'll be surprised…:P And I do like the stinging aroma of cliffhangers very much, yes. XD Thanks for that comment! :D

**Asher Tye: **Pet porcupines. (nodnod). Remember how Sonic requested something 'unpleasant' for Robotnik to land in? XD XD And you can believe me, I was groaning with the gamers in the previous chapter as well! ;)

**Pokelad:** Not gonna happen indeed. But it would be boring otherwise, anyway, so…screw normalcy, we want Sonic! XD Poking fun at Knux in general is great entertainment, happy you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting!

**JudasFm: **heh, mistakes fixed, thanks! As for the scene where Sonic hits the barrel and catapults it against the djinns…meep, that what I wanted to avoid happened – descriptions were lacking because I was unconsciously assuming everyone had played the game. Scene was re-written. As for what happens next…please read on! XD

**StaR Productions: **Hahahah, knuckles fans abound around here. :3 Explanation for Sonic's imperviousness re: fiery death coming soon, it's actually a real plot point. ;) Nope the level itself was pretty easy, tho (after playing it thirty times in a row O.o), the reason is a different one to do with the storyline. ;)

**LunaLynx: **(heh, pretty name!) Glad to oblige! (bows) here's the next chappie and thx for the comment! :D

**The Conflicted Writer:** Yup, though all parts of the level will get covered eventually. The golems are one of those little in-game stories I like to invent, much like the dinosaurs and the flood wave that destroyed Sand Oasis – happy you enjoy those parts! :3 As for a sequel to this – well, we'll see, right? ;)

**crimson-obsidian-rose:** ohh, that's right, it was Ramadan during that time, wasn't it? :) I remember that cute fic of yours where Amy learnt about fasting. Don't give up girl, you only appreciate something when you can't have it! XD And as for that Tails' comment – well, he _has_ a habit of dying in my fics, after all…:P

**Ri2:** Try Pirate Storm. Now _that_ I call frustrating. O.o And no worries, skiped parts will be added later…;) Robotnik – well, I thought readers might want to know what he's doing at the moment, so there was a quick cut to the palace. The old tub o' lard _does_ have his fanbase, y'know? XD Thanks for the review!

**OvErLoRd Darkspine: **Heheheh, thanks! :D (blushes) Updates tend to be sloooow, because I had about three weeks to prepare chapters for an entire year when I can't type fanfic, but…yeah. You can always help yourself to my other fics, they're quite fun, too. ;) Thanks for commenting!

**CerberAsta: **Evil Cliffie FTW. What else is a sadist author supposed to do, when the characters have already suffered enough and the readers are still left unscarred? :P But I'm glad you like it and thanks for taking the time to review! :D

**Luigifan1: **That's okay, I'm happy whenever I hear from you! :) And heh, you might be on to something in Knux' case…as for Tails: well, he _has _a habit of dying in my fics…cutest victim _ever_, can I help it? XD As long as he's involved in the storyline, he should be safe, tho. XD

**JustHope: **One update, as requested. Aw, email trouble? Hope for you it gets better soon. But yeah, SatsR is a pretty cool game, doing this adaption is fun and adding these little twists makes it a fanfic I like. Happy to hear you liked the bit about Knux' tail! XD Thanks for the nice comment, too. :)

**Courtney Lloyd: **Sure will – meanwhile, I'll recommend my other fanfics to you, they can help bridge the waiting time…;)

**Puzzlechu: **Nope, Knuckles doesn't have much patience when it comes to Sonic. But glad the description worked for you. I always try my very best.;) Thanks for leaving a review!

**MoonlightWander:** I hope so, too. XD Next chapter is here, I hope you like it as well – thanks for the comment, too!

**Blue Mage Quartett: **Why on Mobius would you accuse me of character killing? (tries and fails to look innocent, then hurriedly shoves a random orange tail lying around under the carpet) You must be mistaken! XD No, for now it's mostly Sonic and Knux who have to fear for their life – but thanks for the comment, it made me laugh! :D

**Ngandu the Croc: **Hahahah, somebody frustrated with the level? XD (though it was _me_ who had to get across that goddamn section more than thirty times in a row when doing this level adapt – and Tails didn't show up to help me _once._ :P As for whether Knuckles will end up as echidna flambé..please read to find out and thanks for that nice review! :D

**Ember Rock: **Yup, I _so_ hate winter. That's the second time I can spend this half of the year in the southern hemisphere and I'm loving every minute of it. I probably was some kind of migrational bird in a former life. XD Poor Knux, tho, you're right – I was wondering when he'd explode because of Sonic's attitude and this chapter seemed like the right place. I'm really happy you liked and picked up on their various thoughts, your reviews are always such a treat, thanks so much! :) :) ;)

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Heh, thanks! Character interaction is usually the thing I get most into - glad you like it! And as promised, there'll be more...;)

**Rebell: **Heh, hi there! Australia is going great, but wouldn't mind at all meeting up! XD As for why Sonic didn't get hurt as much...please read on, dear friend! And thanks so much for your barrage of reviews, I was fearing you'd ditched this story. ;) And now, one more update coming your way...

**Chapter 18: Bonded to the Flame**

"_Knuckles!"_

The echidna's head whipped around to see Sonic at the other end of the corridor, looking horrified. Then a hiss behind him reminded the echidna what exactly made the black djinn so special.

It was the last thing he saw as a ray of fire erupted from its mouth towards his fuel-drenched body.

Tails screamed. That was loud. And then an even _louder_ noise erupted, a wave of sound that drowned out all others, a veritable _boom_…

The breath was knocked out of Knuckles' lungs as Sonic collided with him in mid-air. The 750 mph the hedgehog had been traveling at to reach his friend in time had been greatly reduced as he lunged into the air, because everything else would have meant incredible damage to both their bodies, but it was still sufficient to hurl the echidna more than ten feet backwards, a rough landing on his back following suit.

It meant he had a prime position to watch as Sonic still in the air instead of him was engulfed by flames entirely.

"No," Knuckles breathed in shock, soundless since his lungs still refused to inflate.

Then Tails was there, barely slower than his older brother, shrieking incoherently as one desperate flying kick ended the existence of the fire-breathing monster. The flames extinguished immediately and something that now was were Sonic had been dropped to the floor.

"SONIC!" the little fox screamed in agony, immediately flinging himself atop the charred heap, tears rolling down his cheeks as his whole world had just been turned into bleeding ashes.

…right up to the point when that very much still quite blue-furred bundle underneath him groaned and tried to move.

"…Sonic?" Tails croaked, disbelief as well as an over-strained larynx preventing him from uttering anything louder than a whisper.

Another groan was the answer, and by then, Knuckles had managed to push himself onto his elbows, fuelled more by discipline than any strength (or non-jarred muscles) still left. His eyes fell onto two heaps of fur, orange lying half on top of blue. He blinked, and slowly could recognize them with a bit more distinction – Sonic had landed on his side and curled up in seeming pain, the tan fur of his belly now becoming visible as he tried to stretch himself again to get up. The hedgehog braced a hand against the floor and lifted his head.

Knuckles dimly noted that it was a bare hand, with just a few charred shreds of glove clinging to it. Then finally, unscathed emerald eyes opened and the blue hero focused for the first time on the kit on his side. He tried to hoist himself higher immediately at the sight of the tear trails.

"…Tails? What's wrong?!"

"Sonic!" Tails cried hoarsely, effectively ending any efforts on his brother's part by tackling him right back to the ground.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there!" Sonic coughed, and the echidna wondered whether he had imagined the little smoke cloud emerging from his mouth - but Knuckles knew he was definitely _not_ hallucinating when the blue hedgehog put his second arm around the still clinging fox kit and the Guardian saw that the other glove, too, had been burned off.

The entire hedgehog looked…smoky. Burned fur-ends. The tips of his ears actually a little black. The cuffs of his socks gone, even if those high-tech sneakers of his had resisted.

Yet the entire hedgehog was alive and sitting, when he should have been dead.

_Yeah. After he sacrificed himself for __me__,_ shot through Knuckles' head.

Sonic's bandages hadn't survived, though, and the wounds underneath it were now freshly glazed and puckering, giving evidence of the severe blast of lethal heat. Of course, the most prominent proof was the hero's neck ring. It's surface seemed to have been briefly _molten_, then hardened again, trails, lines, and thin welts now covering the previously smooth trinket. It almost resembled the ring on Sonic's finger now, which was also coated in engravings. Any temperatures that could do _that_ shouldn't have spared a living, breathing body.

A wince escaped the echidna's lips as he wrestled his body into compliance to push himself onto all fours. Sonic heard and looked up. Small white hedgehog teeth shone at the Guardian as his azure companion managed a small grin. "Heya, Knux. Did I 'knock' some sense into you?"

"How?," Knuckles managed, still swallowing, "Why?"

"Well," Sonic began, shortly gritting his teeth as he also sat up and apparently strained a sensitive spot, "I saw you about to commit the same idiot mistake that I made. Couldn't let that happen, now, could I? The universe would have collapsed or something."

"You should be _dead_," the Guardian shot back, not about to be deterred.

Sonic's voice was a whole lot quiter when he answered.

"…I know. I'm alive, though."

"But what happened in the fire, Sonic?" Tails asked, now that he was sure his brother was going to live, releasing him.

The blue hedgehog shrugged. "I dunno. It was just kind of warm and hot, like a giant hair dryer blasting you or something, but not really painful. I got lucky with the fire when I let that barrel explode this morning, so I figured I'd just chance it this time, too. After all," he said, a slight smile creeping onto his face again, "You look like a sewer monster right now. With that fuel all over you, there was no chance you'd have survived, so what could I have done?"

"…you had a vague idea that the fire for some reason wouldn't harm you and chanced everything on _that_?" Knuckles asked, still not quite able to wrap (or rather, warp) his head around Concept Sonic. "What the hell were you thinking, you couldn't even _know-_"

Now the hedgehog only grinned broader. "You said it yourself, Knux. I _don't_ think. That's how I am so fast." But then his grin vanished and his voice was softer when he continued: "Knuckles…I may not think as much about what I do next as you do, but…I care about my friends. Really, I do."

The echidna held his gaze for another moment, then sighed. Friendship, or even camaraderie with Sonic meant getting your life (as well as sanity and health) permanently endagered and saved, most of the time on the same day and by the same person.

"You'll be my death yet, hedgehog, I know," Knuckles grunted finally, and immediately the spark returned into the hedgehog's gaze as small rodent incisors grinned.

"There's less entertaining ways to die, echidna!"

xxx

They waited for another ten minutes after everyone felt sure to be up to face the next challenge that came their way (even if it should turn out to be Erazor's Amazing Rabid Pumpkins, as Sonic had remarked) and took the time to count injuries and try to coax Shahra out of her shock.

"Ugh," the blue hedgehog made a grimace as he moved his arms and gingerly stretched himself, "I feel like my entire skin is made from paper. Totally dry, it's a bloody wonder it doesn't rip…"

"It's a bloody wonder you're alive at all," Knuckles mumbled, carefully feeling the more slender male's ribcage for more damage after they had noticed one of them to be cracked from his crash into Knuckles (which was nothing new. When the two collided and Sonic wasn't curled up, even _Cheese _would have been able to predict who would come off worse).

"The way we're going here, you'll be missing one of your ears by this time tomorrow. And we don't even have tape or something similar to patch you up."

"Maybe Shahra can help…" Sonic mumbled, before shooting another glance at Knuckles, "If she can't, not a word about this to Tails when he comes back, right? He's worrying enough about me with this arrow as it is."

When the echidna gave a brief nod, Sonic turned his attention to the ring again. The moment he (and Shahra) had seen Knuckles about to die in the fire, the genie must have gone into shock – Sonic could only describe it as a chilling sensation in the back of his mind, at the time dampened as his own adrenaline had propelled him forward. Now it was just an odd numbness where previously there had been the warm, servile, sometimes surprised, sometimes sad or wistful, but always friendly voice of his genie.

_Shahra! _

He called out to her in his mind, but the detached feeling at his rear skull didn't change.

"Why don't you try rubbing the ring?" Knuckles suggested, remembering that Sonic had told him that was how he had called her in the first place. People (well, mostly certain hedgehogs) sometimes said the echidna had the social grace of a feral elephant in a porcelain store, but what they didn't realize was that a comparison to this animal was much more accurate in terms of his memory.

Sonic, after shooting a mildly surprised but appreciative glance at the Guardian, did just that.

When Shahra appeared, she was a mess. If her physical appearance reflected her inner state, Sonic mused, then right now the genie must have real trouble keeping herself together.

The usually sharp contours were blurred, her legs not clothed by cream harem pants anymore, but an ivory mess of billowing smoke. Thin purple vapor tearsstreaks rolled down from her wide, torpid eyes, her face frozen in a stiff mask of fear. Faint whisps of smoke flitted away from her in rapid gasps, as if this was her equivalent of hyperventilating.

"…Shahra? Please, talk to me!" the hedgehog called after the moment of surprise had passed, first waving his ungloved hand in front of her face, then trying to gently shake her shoulder which felt worryingly unsolid underneath his unprotected fingers. There was no visible reaction. "Shahra? Can't you hear me?" he tried again, just as unsuccessful as before.

Knuckles sighed. Sonic, as always, didn't quite understand which situation required what kind of measures. He stepped forward and struck.

Well. Slapped, more accurately, and even this he did using only a miniature amount of his true power. He had already broken Sonic's jaw in such a maneover once, and, while the blue speedster with his mouth taped shut had actually been much more pleasant to have around, it hadn't changed the fact that Knuckles had been truly sorry and was now a lot more wary of his strength when it came to handling other, even more breakable people.

His hand made contact with a skull much too light to be human and Shahra's head snapped to the side, but at least it seemed to have the desired effect. The genie gasped, yet when her face turned towards them again, they could at least see that there was something alive and thinking behind those huge gray-blue eyes again.

"Genie. Concentrate. Your master wants something from you."

"Geez, Knux! You couldn't have been any more gentle?"

"…Master…?" Shahra whispered finally, blinking as the echidna's words hit home. Then she whirled upon Sonic in an instant. "Master! Are you-" -her hands landed on his shoulders, staring him up and down rapidly, then sinking down slowly as it became apparent that the hedgehog was still mostly fine. "…you are alive. The flame protected you. Even though _I_…failed." She swallowed again, her eyes brimming with fresh smoke tears. Sonic sighed.

"What you did was perfectly natural, Shahra," he said, and he was speaking the truth. It was odd that way, but – when Sonic saw a burning building, a car going off-road, a grenade that just had its plug removed, his instinctive reaction was to _run_ and save lives, but he had always seen so many other Mobians and humans not doing _anything_, just standing there staring with their mouths agape. After time he had understood. They weren't fighters, like him, they were just normal people, their normal lives disturbed by an anormal event and therefore clueless on how to act, so…they didn't act at all. And while Shahra could probably never reach his reaction times (then again, when you got down to it, that was something even Shadow had trouble with), right now she wasn't even able to act as fast as a normal Mobian in distress, because she had never been trained in any sort of combat. She was a guide, a healer, a guard, a friendly shoulder, a helpful ally with a few magic tricks up her sleeve – a warrior she was not.

"You're not just cut out for fighting, s'all," Sonic said, his voice carefully light. "But hey, with Knux and Tails around we've got more than enough Djinn-kicking power around to take Erazor on, no matter how many excuses for henchmen he sends."

"But…I – I just froze up. I'm such a coward…" Shahra protested, her lower lip trembling. Sonic pretended to think about that for a moment, then shook his head. "Hey, stop beating yourself up over it, Shahra, that's an order." He grinned. "_Real_ guts can also be something else than running blindly into a fire blast. Not everybody can do that. So, actual courage can also mean making a right decision when you're shaking inside. Or speaking up even if you know you can get thrashed for it later. Did that quite a bit when I was a kid, though I'm not sure whether that was brave or just stupid," he added, chuckling quietly.

"Nah, Shahra, stop thinking you're not a worthwhile member of the team, we need you to understand this world just as you need us to save it."

She just looked at him, for some reason almost looking guilty, but Sonic jotted that down to her still present doubt about herself. The half-joking order he'd given her seemed to have at least worked this time. In the end, she gave the tiniest of nods and tried to smoothe out her appearance for them again. "… thank you, Sonic. You have no idea what this means to me."

"Hey, no worries," Sonic winked at her, giving a thumbs-up. "Just smile!"

xxx

A little bit down the corridor Knuckles rolled his eyes. It was times like this he had the serious urge to break the hedgehog's jaw _again._ Sonic could run circles around every single sprinter on the planet, but the echidna had the sinking feeling that that also went for all of its motivation trainers.

He located the little fox he'd been looking for soon. Tails was just coming back from his recon mission, since the team had agreed any more encounters with the dark djinn where not needed.

"Hey, kid!" Knuckles called out to him, "Found a safe route?"

"Yeah!" Tails shouted back, dropping down in front of the Guardian, "It's really easy, there's lots of shortcuts around here. Is everything alright back with you two?"

"Sort of. Genie's whining again."

"…oh."

"Uh-huh," Knuckles replied, smirking a little as he saw the same slight exasperation mirrored in the small vulpine's face that he felt himself. It felt good to able to talk to someone about it, at least. "Sonic's giving her another pep talk."

"Yeah, he's good at that," Tails said quickly, before adding just a little bit quieter to his feet: "…but before he only gave them to _me._" As if realizing what he'd just said, his head snapped up again. "Not that I'd _need_ them anymore or anything!"

Knuckles had to bite back a chuckle at the mortified expression of the little fox who obviously couldn't think of any scenario worse than the echidna thinking of him as anybody less tougher than the bastard child of Bat Mobian and a granite block.

"No, of course you don't," Knuckles replied in a tone that could almost pass as affectionate if it had been less amused. Tails went on as if he hadn't even heard him.

"It's just…he's so nice to her all the time and always pays attention and tries to cheer her up - I mean, it's not like she's a bad person or anything, but…it's hard to see him being so…all over somebody _else_."

_Mental memo: _Move Angel Island to most remote location possible as soon as the hedgehog falls in love with someone for real to avoid soap opera.

He sighed. _Or more probably, take devastated fox kid up there with me. I'm the Guardian of the Master Emerald. 'Surrogate big brother' was __nowhere__ in the job description. _

"I thought you knew better than to whine like a spoilt puggle. He's just there where people need him most. That's Sonic."

"Hnh." Tails managed, unconvinced. Knuckles sighed, before adding a bit softer:

"Besides, what's so bad about spending time with an unfriendly, misanthropic echidna instead?"

At this, the fox kit actually looked up to see one of Knuckles incredibly scarce real smiles tug at the edges of his mouth. And Tails smiled right back.

Sonic gave his kindness, time and cheer to everyone who asked him or needed it, but being able to claim friendship with the Master of Angel Island was a rare thing indeed.

xxx

Nevertheless, any grudges that the red and orange-furred Mobians might have had held against the genie immediately disappeared when the two of them returned and Shahra was proving herself helpful once again. Sonic's rib was healed, as well as his burnt garments replaced and Knuckles' and Tails' more severe burn injuries tended to, as well as the Guardian's fur cleaned. The genie claimed she would try to be stronger from now on, making up for her combat faults by being all the more useful during breaks. The team, united once more, set off toward the inner centre of the foundry again, all of them wondering what they could possibly find.

"Uh, Shahra," Tails asked as they were walking on through the tunnel, "Why didn't the fire burn Sonic, actually? Was it because of the arrow?" he questioned, his sharp mind making the connection easily and Shahra nodded.

"Yes. I was not sure about it, but it appears that the flame has formed a special bond with him. And fire can't hurt fire…"

Sonic didn't say anything but couldn't help but glance down at the flickering flame on his chest. Formed a…_bond_ with him? The idea weirded him out – he had thought about the thing as a wound, a liability, a parasite even, a motivation to ram his spikes into Erazor, but never something even remotely positive. Then he shrugged. Well, if the Pink Panther wanted to give him another edge, he wasn't about to complain.

At the same time, Knuckles was rather reminded of the time when Sonic had lain unconscious to his feet after running up that wall. Back then he had also been thinking that the fire was almost becoming…_part_ of Sonic, blazing when he ran, flickering when he was exhausted and peacefully crackling when the hedgehog felt at ease.

_Like a duplicate of the heart it pierced,_ the echidna thought, but decided not to voice his thoughts. As long as it was speculation, any crazy theories were futile anyway. Better to concentrate on the task at hand.

They continued along the corridor, now so deep into the foundry that any source of light were no longer the windows, but the incandescent molten metal flowing underneath the ventilation shaft sent its reddish glow from below, the light filtering through the latticework to both sides of the shaft floor.

A pair of harmless purple henchmen met their spiked demise soon thereafter - Sonic carefully finished them off _without_ the use of any barrels, filled or otherwise.

The corridor hewn from rock changed into a more civilized version, its walls now consisting of metal framework behind which huge machinery could be seen running futilely. Apart from a few more rotating fans no obstacles presented themselves and Knuckles was already staring dully straight ahead, wondering how much time had passed since morning and whether they shouldn't stop for food soon.

His face took on an entirely new expression as soon as they had taken another few steps and made it past a pair of ventilators, interlocked with each other like cogs. And behind that, on the ground were…

Sonic leapt into the air, eyes alight.

"Iiiiiit's _grinding _time!"

Knuckles kept staring a bit.

Rails made from rough concrete. Shoes with rubber soles. Okay.

So where the hell did the _sparks_ come from?

_Still, _Knuckles mused a few moments later,

- Sonic went past him again, having jumped onto another rail parallel to the first one, and was now grinding back the way he'd come, still whooping -

_- it's not –_

- Sonic whirled past once more, this time skating backwards -

_- as. If. –_

_- _the echidna's tread had started to become more of a stomping now as the blue speedster went by for the third time, one-legged and imitating an ice skater -

"Look, Knux! No hands!"

"-_ as if we had to save the world or something!" _the addressed Mobian bellowed, but of course, it had exactly zero effect on Sonic, and even Tails only gave him a faintly apologetic glance before joining in and chasing after his older brother along the concrete rails.

Knuckles sighed, jumped, and glid after them.

_Mental Memo: _Ask Sonic to do the same trick on train tracks when we get home.

And Knuckles would have, if only a part of him hadn't woefully reminded him that Sonic had already forced Tails and him into that situation in Rail Canyon, and probably thought it hilarious to boot.

xxx

The rails stopped short only a few hundred yards later and both hedgehog and fox jumped off again, laughing toward one another.

"Heh, kiddo, you're getting _fast. _I might need to worry about my rep!"

Tails' face split into a huge grin like a beacon before the little fox looked rapidly bashfully at his feet again, rubbing the backside of his head. "Nahh, you're just saying that. 'sides, you were doing all of those stunts, so catching up was easy."

"Stunts? I wasn't doing any stunts," the hedgehog said, trying to look innocent.

"Yeah, you were!" Tails insisted, playfully pushing against Sonic's side, "You jumped across that spikeball, doing saltos."

"Well yeah, but-"

"Then you raced towards that oven blocking your rail, backwards, and did it _again_."

"Granted, but _other_ than that-"

"_Then_ when we came to that abyss, you curled while grinding, used a springboard, knocked that golem flat over the chasm, grinded across it and Knuckles threw a rock at you for being unneccessary complicated."

"…Okay. Maybe a _few_ stunts," Sonic laughed, waving to the echidna that was just catching up. "And that rock _hurt_, by the way," he said, massaging his ear and wincing when he touched atop the small blackened tip. "Ouch. Guess my flame protection is not all-powerful. That feels like a third-degree burn."

Tails drew a grimace of sympathy (while Shahra sent a familiar feeling via their mental connection) and Sonic saw it and winked. "Relax, it'll heal. We Mobians even have the bonus that fur covers any sort of scars – otherwise by now I wouldn't be the totally hot dude that I am, huh, Knux?"

The echidna merely snorted as he walked past them and Sonic and Tails followed, the first happily ignoring any lack of enthusiasm on the Guardian's part. Then Sonic briefly frowned. "I _did_ meet a guy once who had also gotten burnt, though – he said when his fur grew back in those places it was all white. Weird, huh? Hope that doesn't happen to me, I'd look like a snow owl!"

As _fascinating_ as your own physique might be to you, Sonic, we still have to find Erazor. And it seems we have to scale this wall for that."

The 'wall' Knuckles was gesturing at was more of a 90-degree upwards turn of the tunnel they had been grinding in so far, and it was conveniently infested with giant mobile mince-mills clinging stubbornly to the vertical wall and running senselessly up and down.

Sonic scrutinized it briefly, staring up at the death-trap and rubbing his chin. When he finally turned back to Knuckes, he asked:

"…or do you think it would look _cool_ if I had white tips?"

"_Sonic_!" Knuckles' left eye was already twitching again, "We have to get up there and Erazor's traps have made it a lethal obstacle course!"

"Yeah, isn't it _awesome_? Raise your hands who wants to make it a race."

At this point the conversation turned from vocal to physical, and a wincing Tails wondered if they actually really needed Erazor and his traps or whether Sonic and Knuckles could do their job all by themselves.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

"Just smile" is Nintendo Mania's fault, btw. I claim no responsibilty. Apart from that, am right now in Tasmania and still hunting around to see a real echidna, give it a green stone and see what happens. ;)

Oh, and you're also all invited to join the Sonic Fanfiction Contest in Mystery001's forums. Lots of categories and deadline is december 1st. The more, the merrier - enjoy! :D

And now...please review? ;)


	19. Burn Me Once

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, the minigames would not have been programmed in a 'Learn How An Epileptic Feels!' educational style.

**petite-dreamer: **Whoops, that's wrong indeed. Sorry. XD Thanks for pointing that one out, will be corrected! :D Sadly, those echidnas tend to bury themselves before you can whip out those emeralds...;)

**Pokelad:** Nah, let's not hope for the worst, shall we? Knux might still need that hedgehog to get out of there, after all...but thanks for reviewing!

**Puzzlechu: **(cute name!) Heh, thanks, glad you liked it! I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, too, and good luck with those minigames next time! XD

**Ri2**: Grinding time indeed. Thanks for the comment! :)

** OvErLoRd Darkspine:** "Wikipedia: Hedgehogs", huh? Well, I'll try, but it's not that easy when travelling, that's all I can say. :P Glad you like the other fics, though, and thanks for reviewing!

**HyperSonicFire15:** Yeah, Sonic with white tips _would_ look kinda cute...hell, I'd draw it if I could! XD thanks for taking the time to review, though! ;)

**Asher Tye: **'Course he does, Knux rocks. :) And I think you'd be hard pressed to find _anyone_ not envious of Sonic's luck - but how on earth would he survive all those prickly situations we authors like to place him in otherwise? (Discounting Torture-angst fests, at any rate. Shudder. Shun.) Thanks a lot for the comment!

**DC111: **Wow, thanks for that thorough review! Corrections will be applied immediately, thanks for that! Glad you liked the characterization too, Knuckles is awesome to write. :) Plus, Tails is probably a little bit on the edge after Sonic having already almost been killed once in this fic. ;)

**Nintendo Mania: **Course that was Bait, who else? XD Seriously, I like her stories wayyy too much...;) And Knuckles is probably one of the best friends one can have, 'loyalty' is probably his middle name or something - right after 'bloody pig-headedness' at any rate. XD

**MoonlightWander: **Heh, thanks for the comment! :D

**St. Noof: **oooh, sonic Brotherhood adaption? :) Can't wait! Apart from that, one Golem Fight as desired about to come up!

**YumeTakato: **Now there's an idea! XD Thanks for the review!

**the Ambassador: **hmm, maybe you're right. Maybe I should just tell it that a blue hedgehog has actually stolen its Master Emerald and it will instantly believe me. ;)

**greenleafprince:** I did find one, thanks a bunch! ;) Happy you liked the chapter. :)

**JustHope: **Heh, glad you enyoyed it. Emeralds making echidnas turn red would be...pretty cool...XD

**STaR Productions: **Wow, thanks for yet another great review! :) Yeah, Shahra is a bit of an odd one, isn't she...;) And no worries, plot revelations to follow up...sometime, anyway...XD Plus, Supersonic Sonic rules. :)

**The Conflicted Writer: **(blushes) Heh, thanks. :) Yeah, it's a lot of fun making fun of the things you love - hooray for nonsensical SEGA. :D

**Ember Rock: **You wanna see Sonic with a broken jaw? Heh, I smell something coming up for Sonic Drabble Trouble...XD And ooof, yes, Tasmania was COLD. In capitals. SO glad I'm in Sydney now. Though you must have suffered from those heat waves in Melbourne...O.o Thanks for that really detailed review, though, I always enjoy those a lot. :)

**Leader S: **Heh, happy you like! And as for your other question...well, read and find out! ;)

**Porecomesis: **(any particular reason for that name...?) (blushes) Heh, thanks! My reading consists largely of Terry Practhett, my personal god of the literary world and I like to think he's influenced my writing quite a bit, btw. :) And no worries, more chapters are coming and corrections will be applied...this story is going to be finished for sure! :D

**Your-Shining-Light: **O.o, don't die, new chappie's here! Alternatively, there's always my other stories, of course...:P

**Blue Mage Quartet: **(huge happy grin) Wow, thanks! Glad you like my Knuckles, he's a very cool character to write. :) It's reviews like this that make typing up thoise stories so much more fun. :D

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Heh, thanks, hope you enjoy the next chappie as well!

**Graycat1: **Nope, not entirely sure, but I do hope that description gets the point across. :P Titles in general are pretty hard for me, too. I puzzle over them for days. ;)

**stranger109: **Thanks, will do!

**amyfan4ever: **Heheh, that would be a cute image. Thanks for all of your reviews, too, and here's a new update!

**Shadlay: **Glad you liked that, and thanks for the comment! :D

* * *

**Chapter 19:** **Burn Me Once, Shame On You...**

"Giant pounding things. Why is it _always_ giant pounding things?"

"Sonic…"

"I mean it makes no _sense_. They're not even pounding anything."

"Oh, that can be arranged," Knuckles muttered under his breath, before speaking up again: "Sonic, _shut it_. Let's just get through this so we can eat, since this is obviously _no_ resting place."

Which was only the truth. Shortly after they had respectively climbed, run and flown up the tunnel, dodging the shredder-like machines in their way, the trio's eyes had opened wide. The corridor had opened up into another huge hall, and at the same time, the floor had dropped away. They had obviously entered into the actual heart of the foundry by now, where the hugest machines were at work and all the molten metal previously accompanying their way had flown to.

It was a man-made volcano.

It was red-glowing, throat-scorching, industrial hell.

It was sulphur, deafening noise, fear of being burned alive - and absolutely breath-taking. This was a place ruled by _metal_.

The centre-pieces of the hall consisted of three huge, piston-like compactors that pounded down on the broad, handrail-less pathway suspended over the pit, the sound of their thudding vibrating through the Mobians from their spikes to their stomachs, letting their ears fold themselves flat. The walls were on both sides several dozen yards away, tanks and pipes jotting through the space between. Underneath them was a sea of heat that seared their eyes, stung their noses and let their bodies turn drenched by the minute.

"…but who would install these pistons in the middle of a _walkway?_"

"The same people who always program the GUN beetles to fly in formations that you and Shadow can easily homing-attack across. Sonic, we have already established that Erazor messed up the stories. So. Stop. _Asking_."

"Was only curious, s'all…" the hedgehog muttered, eyeing the dangerous contraptions. Sweat was trying to run into his eyes and he had to blink. He didn't like this place. It reminded him too much of Robotnik and he so, so much preferred the outdoors. Here, the air was flickering in front of his vision and trying to breathe the stale substance made him gag and want to retch. This was no place where living beings were supposed to exist. Better make this fast…

_"Master, do you need my help? I could levitate you around the compactors…"_

_Thanks, but I think I'm good. They move pretty slow. Keep an eye out for Tails, though, willya? He looks pretty tired…_

Sonic jumped down from their perch and landed on the sturdy walkway without problems. He could hear the descent of his friends behind him and moved forwards, trying not to wince at the loud pounding or the heat which was even more searing this far down.

His years of adventures and avoiding killing machines had left Sonic with an instinct for the rhythm of any enemy, be it living or metal. Thus, it was an easy feat for him to tense in front of the stomper and shoot across it as soon as the metal lifted again.

He tripped.

…slipped, curled, _rolled_ on and left the platform just as the compactor came down behind him with merciless force once more.

_…Phew._

"_Do you want me to levitate you around the compactors __now__?"_

xxx

Of course, Sonic had declined the offer also a second time, but there were no more slip-ups, either. Since the blue hero was the only one who had to walk, once he was past, Knuckles and Tails crossed the chamber quickly and efficiently by air. The other side had a stone walkway leading out of the melting hall which was set against the wall.

After dispatching some more fire-blasting monster puppets that had taken up residence there (and only narrowly preventing one seemingly suicidal henchman from igniting another silver barrel that would have blown them all to Kingdom come), the team decided that this was probably the safest spot they would find before they arrived at wherever Erazor was, and therefore the chosen lunch location. Sonic complained that he had never wanted a pique-nique where he could fry the eggs on his forehead, but a quick glance at a starving Tails convinced him that going on _without_ sustenance would probably mean that soon not only Eggman, but also the child care office was on his case.

xxx

"So," Sonic began a while later when he was munching away at a banana (one of the few fruits they had recognized in the prehistorical vegetation of the valley), "these golems, right?" he asked, using the precariously wobbling bit of yellow fruit to point at one of the fallen metal giants lying close to their lunch site.

Tails was currently sitting atop on it, buried head-first in the mechanic intestines of the broken machine and emitting surprised noises at irregular intervalls. The hedgehog wasn't quite sure _where_ he'd produced that screw driver to open the thing from, but just as Amy could always get her hammer from depths left better unexplored, and Shadow probably had a magical storage space inside his chest fur where he kept his gun on any and all occasions, the little fox had various tools always with him and was right now quite happily at work.

"Yes, Sonic? Do you have a question concerning them?" Shahra asked, appearing as her Master called. Knuckles also quirked an eye ridge minuitively in interest.

"Yeah. What are they actually supposed to be doing? I mean, just walking around is kind of pointless…"

"Oh, that is just because they have no leader to give them instructions at the moment," Shahra explained, "But originally they were built for war."

Sonic immediately scowled, despite his battle-ready nature a pacifist at heart. Knuckles just rolled his eyes, having expected something along those lines.

_Built for war_. Sometimes the Guardian wondered. His evolutionary ancestors, the feral echidnas were tiny brown lumps of spikes that made strange noises when you poked them and were generally only interested in things you could eat or things you could mate with. When he looked at the ancient civilization his species had erected after turning sapient and beheld the Master Emerald, protected by the Guardians for centuries, Knuckles could never help but feeling that somehow, it had been _worth_ it.

And then, whenever he saw two fighting, stick-armed, shrieking hordes of apes on the discovery channel and _then_ flipped over to the human TV daily news, he always had to wonder whether that also applied in _their_ species' case.

"Really? What kind of leader would command them?" Sonic asked, interrupting Knuckles' cynic mental commentary, "Like, an Arabian version of Buttnik?"

Shahra shook her head. "No. Even though the blacksmiths and designers of these warring golems were human, they deemed that such a force as this would need an apt commander when finished. Have you ever heard of the myth of the Jade Golem?"

When both Sonic and Knuckles shook their heads, looking mildly interested, the genie continued: "The Jade Golem, according to legend, was a golem powered not by a magic tablet but by a stone comprised of stolen human souls – it would enable him to think to an extent and thereby he should be able to command over a hundred golem soldiers. The warlocks from abroad in this foundry had heard of the tale and wanted to replicate a Leader of Golems made from metal – only they made a horrible mistake."

"Is that why there's nobody here anymore? You said something about them all having fled," Knuckles interrupted, frowning, and Shahra went right on, once more completely in her element of stories and legends.

"Yes. That is the sad history of this foundry…hubris and recklessness drove the designers of the golems to terribly overestimate themselves. Human souls were too weak a power source for a metal commander, they said. So they summoned an ancient demon spirit to inhabit the golem they had created instead. But once they had succeeded, they could not control it – lives were lost, and fire threatened to consume everything. Before that happened, they flooded the place where the golem had been magicked into life with all the molten metal they could divert, in the hope of destroying the creature."

"…did it work?" Tails suddenly piped up, having abandoned the carcass of the golem he had been working on. Suddenly it didn't seem very appealing anymore.

Shahra looked uncomfortable. "Nobody knows – for they sealed this factory off right after that, imprisoning all the people still inside. For over a hundred years, this place has been an abandoned mechanical tomb."

Despite the heat, Sonic could feel a shudder ruffling his quills.

"But we didn't see any…corpses," he said, wincing at the last word.

Knuckles glanced at him. "After a hundred years in this heat, I'm not sure there would be much left for us _to_ see. Any specific reason you're telling us that story _now_, Shahra?"

The genie sighed. "It came to me only just now. I was wondering whether _that_ might the reason that Erazor is here at all. Whether he is trying to call this sealed spirit again."

A short pause followed this, before Sonic abruptly stood up, dusting himself off. "Right. Well, _if_ he is, then we'll tell him he can take a metal bath right along with his new pet, 'cause we're gonna stop him. And now let's find him so we can get out of this place – it's like a friggin sauna and _I _already have my ideal weight," he said, grinning at Tails in an effort to lighten the young fox' spirits again, and soon five empty banana skins and six coconut halves were all that was left to testify that the heroes of Mobius had ever even been there.

xxx

Shahra had her eyes tightly squeezed shut. Her Master had told her not to worry.

But then again, when the person wearing the ring your soul is attached to is jumping over pits filled with 'Instant Death, Just Add Hedgehog!', and using things as resting places that could _only_ be used as resting places because they couldn't crumble quite as fast as your suicidal Master could jump off them again, then "not worrying" becomes really, really hard.

"Whoops! Here we go again!" Sonic called, laughing as he crashed into a machine holding some steel girders up, suspended some fifty feet in mid-air over a floor consisting of molten metal. He pushed himself off once more as the holding mechanism plummeted into the depths beneath him, proving that simple physics were optional at best or for people who had paid more attention in science class than in PE.

It was perhaps the fourth room of the foundry's heart they were traversing, and all of them seemed to be flooded with liquid metal at the base, just like Shahra's story had described. This particular one had huge cog wheels turning where they were mounted on the walls and the pathway in the middle was fractured, so gaps had to be crossed by gliding, flying, and wildly jumping into random things.

It seemed to be progressively getting worse. The second room had spouted a pathway that was fractured and _moving._ The third had been infested by monster puppets. And all, without exception, were throat-constrictingly _hot._

Sonic landed lightly on the ground again, and was just glad that his shoes meant he didn't have to touch the floor with bare feet.

"How…much…further…?" Tails panted as he landed next to him, the heat taking its toll on all of them. Sonic bit his lip.

"I dunno, buddy. But surely we _have _to be close by now…"

It took all he had to suppress a groan as yet another room opened up after this one, filled with metal, monster puppets and lack of Erazor. All of the halls looked similar, their huge size letting Sonic wonder whether the inside of the foundry was simply bigger than its exerior, or whether they were moving through huge dungeons dug out underneath the building. He couldn't remember ever so desperately wishing for a shower, hating the way his usually sleek coat now stuck to his itchy skin.

_Mental Memo_: As soon as we're back, shower. Shower, ask Chaos to play with you, then shower some more.

"I think I'm having hallucinations. Are we back in Grand Metropolis?" Knuckles next to him asked, licking over his dry lips. Sonic followed the echidna's gaze and immediately understood. The ledge they had landed on after the blue hero had crossed the gap with the help of two hanger contraptions (and several very unlucky henchmen) gave access to a stone arc that appeared to lead into the next room. However, nearly immediately behind the curved gate the floor vanished immediately, and the only way to cross the next melting oven was the broad speeding pad ramp that was mounted just before the drop. With the dull orange glowing coming from below and the heat rays hitting their faces, the group was fiercely reminded of a certain similiarly big room that had also been equipped with a floor heating to die for.

Sonic couldn't help but grin. "Brings back fond memories, huh, Knux?"

"Fond what?! We were almost cooked alive!"

The hedgehog shrugged. "Well, with that flame in my chest I'm already being roasted slowly anyway. Think the metal is gonna start rising in here when we try to cross, too?"

"Not unless Erazor is by some amazing plot twist revealed to be Metal Sonic in disguise. However, if it does, I'll have to kill you. Back then it was your idea to go into that power plant in the first place." Knuckles crossed sweaty arms in front of his chest and glowered at the hedgehog, not having forgotten their little adventure almost two years ago, which had mostly consisted of Sonic having the time of his life and being a greater danger of death for Knuckles than Robotnik and Mecha put together.

Tails landed in between them, visibly slumping as his feet touched ground.

"Ugh…sorry, guys, but this heat is really getting to me…" the fox managed, looking beat. "Tails, are you okay?" Sonic asked, concerned. "You've been drinking enough, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I have. But my tails are getting tired since I've been using them as a ventilator all day," the small fox laughed a little and pointed at his appendages still twirling.

Sonic shook his head at the inventiveness of his younger brother, grinning. "Wish we'd had you with us when we were crossing the desert, kiddo. But we should be there soon. If this speeding ramp doesn't blast us into the nearest wall instead, it should carry us right across the next metal reservoir and then it can't be far to Erazor!"

Tails nodded enthusiastically, Sonic smiled encouragingly and Knuckles just wondered how often the hedgehog had said that today.

xxx

"Whooo! I just loooove…_SPIKEBALLS _!" Sonic exclaimed, though the high-pitched tone of the last word made it clear that it probably had not been meant to be part of the sentence originally, and was much more probably there because their flight, indeed, seemed to point towards a bridge covered in giant, round, pointy things.

A desperate scramble in mid-air ensued as the only non-flight capable member of their team grabbed Tails and Knuckles in panic to prevent a rather painful landing for himself, and the trio subsequently descended in an odd mix of hectic gliding, cramped flying and flailing getoffame.

"Whew. Thanks, guys. Originally, I wanted to say I love _speed ramps,_ not spikeballs, but-" Sonic went on cheerfully as they disentangled themselves from their lump on the ground, but then fell silent as they all heard Erazor's booming voice from below, its words as incomprehensible as they were ancient, yet their threat not diminished in the slightest.

"_I falas zaras, I e zarag! I falas zaras, I e zaraq!"_

He was at the very bottom level of the room, the pathway along the walls leading down to him in rectangle turns along the edges of the square hall. And, as one, the heroes were off, racing down towards their enemy, zig-zagging through the spikeballs they'd landed in as if it was a masochist slalom course. They kept their eyes on the pink djinn as they drew nearer, the metal pathway flying away underneath their feet. And still Erazor continued his strange chant, the sea of heat beneath him foaming.

"What is he saying?!" Tails shouted towards his friends, concentrating on keeping up. Sonic shrugged.

"For all we know he could be ordering pizza, I don't care! Let's stop him anyway!"

The djinn meanhwile finished his incantations, apparently still oblivious in his swirl of purple sparks and patterns of light lines around him to the triple threat more than halfway down.

_"Come forth from the fiery depths of Jahanam, ye condemned by Iblis!"_

"Oh no! What is he triggering?!" Tails called.

There was a pause.

Knuckles spoke first. "I am not sure why, but your comment annoyed me." Then he looked confused. "..hey, anybody else suddenly feel the need to say something about 'loading times'?"

Sonic ignored him and frowned for different reasons, still squinting at the silhouette of Erazor through the heat. "No, but now he's talking Mobian, and I _still_ don't get what he's saying."

And Shahra just stared at them in silent horror, again unsure as to whether she had asked the heroes of Mobius or the Three Stooges for assistance.

"He is calling more spirits, Sonic! In your language, 'Jahannam' means 'hell' and Iblis is the _devil_!"

And then they arrived at the bottom of the room, just in time to see the birth of a monster.

"IZ AFRIT!" Erazor roared, and the molten metal exploded. A huge head and torso emerged. It looked like the roboticizer and Darth Vader had had a sudden and fatal meeting. It looked like King Kong's outer hull had melted to reveal the gleaming metal of the Terminator mark two underneath and this time it wasn't Schwarzenegger.

It looked, in Sonic's opinion, also like the biggest rip-off of the Egg Golem you could do if all your mechanics had suddenly gone mad.

"That's…" Knuckles mouthed, unable to find words for the monstrosity.

Its head was of cylindrical form, almost five times as tall as himself. It seemed almost to be wearing a helmet, on top of which a huge red button-like excrescence was mounted. In its head were two red-glowing lights like holes into an eternal furnace. Wires and circular plumbing around these eyes, and a thick tube leading downwards where one would have been looking for a nose, gave it a mechanical face of sorts, appearing like a mechanical simian or human skull stripped of its skin.

The torso underneath was even more artificial skeleton than the head. Without covering, spare parts had been carpentered together so haphazardly, one could wonder why there wasn't duct-tape poking out somewhere. In comparison, the arms appeared much too bulky to be lifted at all, since they and their crude hands with glowing knuckles where actually furnished with plating, huge, nut-like hydraulic contraptions screwed around the upper parts. All in all, the creature was more than thirty feet tall, and had a reach as if its ancestors had been orang-utans.

"It…it's the mechanical Golem King they tried to melt down in here…" Tails stuttered, taking an awed step back with his head craned to take in the entirety of the huge robot. "And Erazor has just called something to give it _life_! But what-?!"

"It is a spirit that controls fire!" Shahra substituted, the presence of the powerful creature making her tremble, "It's called an Ifrit!"

"Rooooarr!" said the Ifrit.

Then the genie's voice alone seemed to have gotten through to Erazor. In the midst of his shining orbs and mandala-patterns cascading through the air, he suddenly turned as if he had only just noticed them. A dark smirk spread across his broad face.

"An audience! And my dear Shahra…I have already carved up half of the pages that make up this world!"

"And what do you want now, a gold star?" Sonic asked, already grinning in anticipation of finally getting even.

Shahra, however, seemed close to tears at Erazor's announcement, the colour having drained from her slender face as if she really was more smoke than flesh now.

"Then why do you need to call forth a creature like that?!" she shrieked at the male djinn, a desperate tone in her voice.

Erazor merely shrugged, but continued smiling. "I've decided to let the Ifrit burn whatever pages remain in the book. I am needed elsewhere." Then a slightly annoyed expression crept upon his face when he caught sight of Sonic right next to her.

"You, blue rat! Have you-"

"First of all, I've _had_ it up to _here_ with the rat stuff!" Sonic cut across the floating djinn at that point, "Seriously! I'm a hedgehog! HEDGE-HOG!" he shouted the syllables unneccessarily clearly, sounding as if explaining the basics of quantum physics to a particularily deaf five-year old with a crayon up his nose. "I mean, have you ADD or something? I could understand this if you you were not only pink but _blonde,_ man, but-"

"_All you filthy vermin are worthless just the same!"_ an incandescent Erazor hollered then, Knuckles standing quietly in the background with a hand over his eyes wondering why Sonic's mouth seemed determined to get them all killed today if the hedgehog himself hadn't managed it yet.

_Mental Memo:_ Next time we go on an adventure, tape blue freak shut beforehand.

The (now more crimson than sakura) djinn drew a deep breath, before flashing an evil grin to the small, furred hero that Cruella DeVil couldn't have done better.

"So you dare telling me you haven't gathered them yet? _Then you'd better hurry it up_!" he waved a hand in a garish gesture, and suddenly Sonic gasped and stumbled backwards, clutching for a brief moment at his chest. Tails' and Knuckles' heads whipped towards him in concern and then they all could see that the flame, that had blazed so brightly in the shouting match with Erazor, now had suddenly regressed to a tiny flickering ember not even half the original size.

"Damn!" Sonic hissed, staring at the fire on his chest, his hands uselessly cupping the flame from underneath.

"With only half of the flame left, only half of your life-force remains!" the djinn sneered, an ugly, gloating grin on his face. Then he laughed, the lightning circles and patterns in the air around him spinning faster as he was preparing to leave.

"No, WAIT!" Sonic screamed, already running towards the flashing figure in the middle of the room, and preparing to jump when the Ifrit suddenly moved in front of him.

"Rooooarr!" shouted the Ifrit.

"Get out of my way!" the blue hedgehog shot back, launching himself at the same time to take out the figure with an expertly executed homing attack, diamond-sharp spines connecting sharply with the most vulnerable points where intricate machinery was exposed.

To everyone's surprise, it didn't damage the creature at all. Sonic only landed on one knee next to them, staring at the Ifrit encased in the golem form with wide eyes. His heart beat like mad against his ribcage, as if it really _had_ shrunk and now had to work twice as hard to provide him with energy. The idea scared him.

Plus, the golem had been _hot. _No wonder, actually, since it had just emerged from molten metal – Sonic was just glad that it hadn't burned him since the flame was still protecting him, but that also meant that neither Knuckles nor Tails could touch it without getting their hands molten.

"What the…that didn't work?!" Tails managed, astonished since _he_ had never been able to build something that Sonic couldn't have thrashed.

"It's no use, Sonic!" Shahra wailed, "Your life is tied to the flame, remember? You cannot fight fire with fire!"

"What?!" Knuckles snapped, his face drawn into a fierce scowl as he watched the steaming Ifrit warily, "That sounds like a concept taken from Mokemon..."

"Oh yeah?" Sonic leapt to his feet again, fury against Erazor and fear for his frantic, racing heart letting his adrenaline rush through his body. "Just _watch_ me!"

Before anyone could stop him, he had bounded away again and was a blue whirlwind in the air, a tornado consisting of azure blades, lethal spinning and anger that came down on the Ifrit again and again, the noise of the crashes echoing through the entire hall. The monster roared and swatted, but didn't hit anything, since Sonic was much too fast. After what seemed more than two dozen hits and less than ten seconds to Tails, his big brother was already at his side again, panting heavily. They squinted through the clearing smoke…

And the Ifrit struck out at them, not a single dent in his armour. It was just like the T-rex yesterday, but this time, they had found the one creature that _wouldn't_ nose-bleed.

_Oh, this does NOT look good! _shot through Sonic's head, the giant hand only miliseconds away from crushing all of them. The hedgehog wanted to _run_, but somehow, his energy was not enough…in a desperate last idea he rubbed the ring.

"Shahra!" _Lend me your power_! he thought, speed all that counted.

And in response, his mouth opened, but it wasn't him anymore who controlled it – his tongue forced out alien words, and it was Shahra's timbre swinging in them, Sonic wondering what they meant even when they left his lips.

"TIME BREAK!"

_To be continued…_

_

* * *

_...if you read, please review? :D

Also, The Conflicted Writer is giving me the great honour to turn 'Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart' into a radio play! He's still looking for voice actors, though, so I hereby encourage any readers and fans of this story who would like to give their favourite character in here a shot to get into contact with him, I'm very psyched about tis project. :D Cheers!

also, **Next Up: Surprise Guest! - What are _you_ doing here?! **


	20. Surprise Guest

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this game, SEGA probably would have gotten sued instantly for constant references to pop culture memes…and then I'd yell 'OBJECTION!' and make it worse.

**Review Replies! **

**Unknownlight: **Heh, thanks. :) As for update speed, I am travelling around the world, have to see where I get a bed for the night and food each day, so bi-weekly it is...;)

**Ri2: **Yes, the Echidna tribe was probably just as war-crazed as us humans, but I have the feeling that proud Knuckles thinks his people just a bit nobler than they actually were...

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Heh, my version of Sonic's world is a little bit of a curious hybrid of Earth and Mobius - hence, there's probably a few Arabian countries around for Sonic to know there's such a thing as the Arabian language. Thanks for the review! :D

**YumeTakato: **Thanks! Here you go...

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Heh, a fellow-cliffie enjoyer! I must admit, I love them too...;) And no worrries about my muse, new ideas for scenes arrive almost daily in my brain in-tray. XD

**Puzzlechu: **No need to feel bad for Sonic, he's a tough guy. Thanks for the comment, tho. ;)

**greenleafprince: **Thanks, will do. :)

**Asher Tye: **I'm sure if you asked Tails that question, you'd get a very enthusiastic nod. XD Sonic and the Black Knight...hmmm, if i ever get to play it once i'm back home, I'll let you know! Other than that, feel free to check my profile's 'future projects' section. :) Thanks a lot for the review! :D

**Pokelad: **Hahahah, a lot of readers liked that bit. Thanks for commenting!

**St. Noof: **"Loading times" was a reference to the fact that it took friggin ages of waiting during scenes/level parts in Sonic NextGen...frayed nerves more than the boss fights, that. As for Shadow...maybe yes, maybe no. I like to be cruel. ;)

**STaR Productions: **Hi there! That line about Iblis was in the game, probably because "Satan" was not appropriate for the ForKids audience.... Of course I had to have my merry way with it, tho. ;) Thanks for pointing out your fav lines, too, I always love to know what worked well. :) Now the next bit is here and I hope you'll enjoy it...

**DC111: **Yes, the update schedule...well, what can I say apart from Australia being a friggin handful? ;) Had to laugh at your review, tho, so thanks. :) And of course the special moves gotta be there, i wanna be thorough with this adaption...;)

**Shontiachaosmaster: **Thanks! That's what I aim for. :D

**Porecomesis:** Nope, no particular reason other than that I've used it for the past seven years. Also had a Mary Sue of that name in an RPG, so still have a soft spot for her. XD Thanks for the review!

**Rebell: **Oh, hope you're already well again! As for the special guest, they have arrived...less than dignified, but arrived no less. ;) Glad to hear you liked our two favourite hotheads this chappie as well, always happy to hear from you. :)

**Hedgehog** **B. Rebecca**: Heh, thanks for the review! But whio said anything about Shadow...? Unfortunately, have barely time for reading since am busy travelling the world. Good luck with your writing, tho!

**Blazichu: **No way I'm gonna miss out on the Adventurer of Adventurers. XD You just wait and see....;)

**The Conflicted Writer: **(blushes) Thanks! :D :D And no worries, Rubber Duck has been noted and will be incorporated, although it might be some time...;) Will also do another mention of the project for sure, so no worries there. Thanks a bunch for the nice comment! :)

**Nintendo Mania: **Yeah, was spelt with an M for Sonic living on Mobius, just on a whim. Glad you liked the chappie. :)

**Ember Rock: **Hahahah, but I LOVE the heat! North Queenland is brill just cause of that! ;) The jade Golem...errm, a bit of that was taken from the Video game "Jade Empire" and the rest I made up to fit the scene. Love mythology, tho, so am thrilled you liked it! :D As for the time I spent on the chapters...most of it flows, but I go over it three to five times before posting it, occasionally making little changes. Sometimes I have to think about how to word the dialogue of the characters, but generally I think I got good 'voices' for each of them. Hope you'll enjoy that re-reading at the end, as this is shaping up, it might be quite the task by then! XD Thanks so much for that awesome review!

**CerberAsta: **Twenty chapters excact. ;) Glad you liked it!

**gaydragonguy86: **Thanks!

**Wirewolf: **So, was your feeling correct? :)

**amyfan4ever: **(laughs) So true. Sinbad's coming up indeed, but will it be in this chapter? ;)

**Ngandu the Croc: **I have a feeling Sonic's a bit too proud to directly ask Shadow for help, he probably also just prefers running everywhere to warping. ;) Gl;ad you liked the foundry description! I personally didn't find NextGen that bad, if only my Xbox hadn't died while playing it...:( Hope you enjoyed my other stories as well! :D

**Blue Mage Quartet: **heh, thanks, hope I have time to correct them. ;) As for the funny dialogue, I just love banter myself, so having Sonic and Knux snipe at each other in my head is easy. :D Love your 'gushing' as always, so thanks for the thorough review! XD

**Avitala: **(nice name!) Next chappie is heeeere...;)

**Captiosus: **Thanks for all those reviews! :D

**shadowfang324: **Whoever said I stopped updating? If you check my profile, you'll find some information about updating times. ;) Other than that, thanks for your comment!

**Chapter 20: Surprise Guest**

It was a peculiar sensation. Sonic was familiar with the way Chaos Control would slow everything down around you, then encase you in numbing, blinding light to warp you across space. He had seen other people use it and managed to employ it himself…but Time Break was different.

Within one moment, the colours of the world had been stolen and time slowed to a crawl just like the thoughts in Sonic's mind. He felt like he was underwater, sounds reaching his ears muffled like in a cotton sea. The golem's hand was still coming at him inch by inch, Knuckles and Tails frozen to their spots at his side. Sonic wanted to blink, but even that seemed too hard…

And then Shahra was there, spreading out from her spot in the back of his skull to pervade Sonic's entire conscience and cutting him loose from the paralyzing threads. His muscles seized up cringing at first at the feeling of something else than his own nerve impulses running through them, then relaxed when they recognized the warm energy as pleasant rather than threatening.

_What…are you doing?_

"_Please, you need to run now_," Shahra pressed mentally, "_I cannot keep you out of the flow of time for long. Take your friends and flee – you cannot win against the Golem King as long as the flame burns inside you both so brightly, please believe me!"_

_But-!_ Sonic wanted to protest, but then a new wave of his genie's urgency and strain washed over him and he decided that, maybe just this once, he wouldn't chance it.

Beside him, echidna and fox kit still stared at the hand coming to crush them, their eyes opened wide like wax figures about to be hit by a car. Sonic took a step towards them.

_Okay, can you let them move, too? _

"_No…it's too much! Please…" _Shahra's mental voice groaned now with the strain of keeping time at bay and Sonic now only nodded, knowing that in certain situations, there was no time for talk but only for action.

He flexed his fingers for a moment, still feeling Shahra protecting his muscles and mind to save him from freezing up like the rest of the world, then bent his knee and pressed the ball of his foot against the ground, preparing to push off.

_Sorry, but we got to run, _shot through his mind at a last glance back at the golem, _but I'm sure we'll get to play again real soon. _

And then Sonic was off. He grabbed Knuckles and Tails' wrists like he had done so many times when they had been on their mission to stop Metal Sonic over a year ago, and felt his arms pulled tightly when their bodies started to fly behind him.

_But – where do we go?! _

"_Wherever you wish! But we must leave, before the Ifrit kills us!" _

_Outside, then. _

The blue hedgehog was already running up the circular stairway they had descended toward Erazor, whizzing through the spikeballs with practiced ease. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. They had come here to find and challenge Erazor, only to have him summon a monster he was powerless against and vanish. It frustrated Sonic to no end – the djinn had sent them running and decreased Sonic's…lifepower? Something along those lines, anyway, it made him feel vulnerable -

- then the hedgehog suddenly gasped when Shahra's powers kicked in once more, his feet leaving ground and he was levitated over the pits filled with metal, the genie apparently deciding to go all-out. With assistance like this, the rest of the factory was cleared in mere moments, Sonic only running faster so he didn't have to think about what he should do next and how badly this second enounter had gone.

No World Ring. No fight. Only bruises, burns, cuts, and a frantically beating heart.

Thusly, when he dropped Knuckles and Tails on the sand outside and the colours returned, Sonic slumped down right next to them all out of his own accord.

T

i

m

e

…_spedup_.

Knuckles was the first to blink, leap to his feet, and then blink again.

"…what the _hell?_ What happened?!"

"We're…out of the foundry…" Tails mumbled disbelievingly. "Sonic?" He added as he saw his older brother sitting on the ground, not looking at him.

"Yeah? I brought us outside. Shahra stopped time or something. I dunno. But Erazor got away and I couldn't do anything," Sonic mumbled, refusing to meet the gaze of the kit. He didn't even glance up when Knuckles stalked back to him and gave him a light nudge with his boot.

"What? Run that by me again, hedgehog. We just…_fled?!_" he grunted, using much the same tones as somebody would for asking whether Sonic had just made them burn down the puppy orphanage.

"What else should we have done, Knucklehead?!" Sonic finally snapped at this, glaring up at the crimson creature with emerald eyes flashing, even if his anger was not so much directed at Knuckles but rather at their current bleak situation. "Shahra only barely managed to get us out of there!"

"Oh yeah?!" Now the echidna had bent forward with muscled arms crossed over his chest, his own small nose touching the pointy one of the ticked-off hedgehog. "Listen, just because _you_ once more demonstrated your own inability to defeat your opponents by anything else than plain _bouncing_, that wouldn't have meant that _I _couldn't have taken that golem on!"

"First of all, it's called _homing,_ not 'bouncing', and second, that guy was so blazing hot that if the flame hadn't protected me, I would have burnt to ash when I touched it! Would've loved to see your face when your knuclaws melted, man!" Sonic cried, standing up while ranting and now both Mobians were leaning forward into each other's faces with their fists at their hips and shouting that Tails privately wondered whether he shouldn't rent them out as a comedy duo.

"That's no reason just to turn your piddly blue tail and run! We could've figured something out!"

"_Piddly?!_ A guy with spines that look like spaghetti gone wrong in my opinion should _not_-"

"Guys, look!" Tails suddenly interjected, both Mobians turning into his direction where he was pointing at something in the distance. It was a slowly moving speck just below the horizon, trailing a dust cloud behind it. "There's something coming toward us!"

All of them squinted now, argument born of frustration all but forgotten. Sonic was just about to dash off and have a closer look, when Knuckles finally recognized the object for what it was.

"Robotnik. I think it's Robotnik in a hovercraft…" he muttered, shielding his eyes like the other two against the evening light.

"A _hovercraft?_" Tails exclaimed, baffled. "How did he engineer a hovercraft _here?"_

Sonic shrugged, not really caring for details. He merely shifted into a more battle-ready stance, not caring that Robotnik had declared allegiance yesterday. Better safe than sorry. Because in the hedgehog's opinion, Knuckles' giant screw-up with the Death Egg and then the two Emeralds in the fiasco with Chaos was one taunting advantage in fights with the echidna he was _not_ about to give up.

After another minute, the thing finally got close enough so the Mobians could recognize details. It looked a lot like the doctor had watched Howl's Moving Castle and got a bit carried away. The machine, in size not bigger than his usual Egg Pod, was indeed flying and mostly shaped like the lower half of a ball as they knew it, but it was pieced together by dozens of parts, all jutting out at strange angles and moving in odd patterns. It's flight wasn't as smooth as usually, either – sometimes it darted in little jumps in all directions or emitted puffs of steam, the overweight human inside wrestling with the controls during those occasions.

Finally, with a rough landing it descended about ten metres away from them and a slightly frazzled Robotnik climbed out. The human hadn't bothered to change his wardrobe much – in fact, he moved almost too comfortably in it, as if he was actually rather pleased to be clothed like the king he imagined himself to be.

Robotnik dusted himself off before facing the frowning Mobians, apparently only now deeming them worthy of his attention.

"Well," he addressed them, "How did your little exploration go? Any results?"

"…we met Erazor. He's summoned an Ivy. Iffy. Something like that," Sonic replied, his tone guarded and dismissive. He had no wish to tell the scientist anything of how badly their adventure had gone down.

"An _Ifrit,_ I presume?" Robotnik raised his eyebrows. "That could present us with a serious problem."

"Why are you here, human?" Knuckles cut across the pondering tone of the overweight doctor, getting straight to the point. "Have _you_ made any progress concerning the rings, then?"

"Contrary to _you_ three, I have. And you surprise me, Sonic. When it was about Chaos Emeralds, you usually found them faster than this."

"Shut it, doc," Sonic muttered, before adding slyly, "But maybe Erazor is just a little bit better at this whole taking-over-the-world scheme than you, ever thought about that?"

"Sonic, I will personally reserve a water torture cell just for you as soon as we're out of this book. But that is not why I have come."

"Then _what,_ Buttnik?" Sonic snapped, whose spines had bristled at the mention of water and captivity in the same sentence. "'cause I'm not suffering your company if there isn't a reason."

"The _reason_, hedgehog, is this. A little _something_ I found in the Palace." And with those words, he reached into the bottom of his hovercraft and pulled up a tied and gagged girl.

Pink fur.

Jade eyes.

And if _that_ hadn't clinched it, the muffled squeal at Sonic's sight certainly did.

Three jaws hit the floor simultaneously as Amy Rose was dangled in front of the trio, only squirming slightly in her captor's grasp.

But then Sonic immediately snapped back into action, not caring as to _how_ exactly the female had got here. It was a well-known fact that Sonic protected his friends about as fiercely as Knuckles a certain gemstone, and Robotnik's actions at the moment were pretty much equivalent to tap-dancing on the Master Emerald.

"What the hell is this, Eggman?! Are you trying to hold her _hostage?"_ Sonic shouted, his eyes no longer peaceful forest emerald, but hardened like a greenstone blade. He had taken a step forward, Knuckles and Tails in his wake, but Robotnik held up his other hand in a pacifying gesture.

"Don't make hasty assumptions. I tied her merely up for better transportation."

"Then free her now! Why did you bring her here?"

For the first time, the doctor's composure showed a crack. A sudden painful expression flitted across his face and he blanched a little.

"…I need you to shut her up. Please."

"…What?!" Sonic blinked, trying to process that thought. "Come again?"

Now Robotnik tried to breathe deeply, as if trying to keep memories of horror at bay.

"She…talks. A lot. Mostly tells fairy tales." The human's speech now sounded strangely clipped for his usual elaborated code. "And…" he drew another shuddering breath, "all of her stories are _horrible_ _romances_. There are more princes and beggar girls than any sane man could stand, all of them apparently pink and blue hedgehogs. It takes a lot – yes, it takes a _lot_ to shatter a mental resolve like mine, Sonic, but if I have to listen to _one _more description of your 'heroically muscled manly chest', I swear I will be sick, and very violently so." Ragged breath. Shudder.

Sonic tried to tell himself that he was _not_ blushing at this in the presence of his arch enemy. It was only slightly made harder by the fact that now both Knuckles and Tails were roaring with laughter in the background.

"Muscles?!" The echidna called, "Don't make me laugh – you can run, hedgehog, but the only one with a sixpack around here is _me."_

"Only if you're referring to your _braincells_, Knucklehead," Sonic snapped back, his cheeks now a furious scarlet. It _still _nagged at him that when the echida pinned him in a fight he couldn't get free against the strength of the other, and Tails' giggling through the whole ordeal did _not_ help.

Before Knuckles could get in a two-spiked retort, however, another question popped into the hedgehog's mind.

"…wait, why is Amy telling stories to _you_ of all people?"

"Oh, he'd kill me if I didn't!" said pink girl suddenly piped up cheerfully, apparently having bitten through her gag.

"What?!" Sonic had leapt onto Robotnik's chest in one angry instant, his feet pressed against the human's torso while the hedgehog was pulling at both ends of the scientist's moustache to keep himself up there. "_What have you been telling her, Egghead_?!"

"Nothing!" Robotnik defended himself, grabbing Sonic around his neck with his free arm in a choke-hold, his long fingers closing around the Mobian's throat easily and pulling the incandescent hedgehog off, but dropping him at the first signs of a spin-dash that would have sliced the wannabe dictator's hand right off.

Now both opponents were panting slightly, Sonic rubbing his throat where the other had grabbed him so roughly and Robotnik trying to get his moustache into the proper form again. Both Knuckles and Tails had tensed, but now relaxed when the brief physical confrontation was over. The small female had been dropped to the ground as well, but made no attempts to run, just stood there, gazing admiringly at Sonic. The blue hedgehog frowned.

"…I have no clue what on Mobius is going on here."

"Oh, I know! It's the original frame story happening!" Tails suddenly called, snipping his fingers. Shahra appeared as well, nodding.

"Yes, Tails is right," she agreed, "Can't you see it?" She asked a still confused Sonic and Knuckles, "She is obviously Sheherazade."

"Who?"

"Sheheredazada…ermm, I mean, who?"

Shahra smiled. "Your friend was Ali Baba. His Majesty was King Sharyar from the same frame story as Sheherazade – for you see, in the Arabian Nights, the story went like this…

"Once upon a time, there was a great King who ruled a realm that in its splendour could not have been richer. However, he was also cruel and hedonistic– each day, he demanded a virgin girl to spend the night with him, and all of the nobles were forced to sacrifice their beloved, beautiful daughters for the greedy nature of their ruler who only wanted to indulge himself in pleasure. For every morning, he had each of the young women executed without exception, leaving behind weeping fathers and screaming mothers who still didn't dare disobey.

"After this had gone on for an insufferable time, and every single parent in the land started to fear for their girl children, a brave young daughter of a wise old grand vizier declared that this night she wanted to sacrifice herself and go to the King. Her father tried to stop her, but she did not listen. And during the night, when she was led into His Majesty's chambers, she did not tremble. Because then she started to tell the waiting King, who was entranced by her beauty, a story…a story that lasted until morning and then was only half-way finished. He _wanted_ to execute her then, but he couldn't – for who would have told him how the thrilling tale ended? So he allowed her to live for one more day. And in the next night, she finished the story, but started another one – and was allowed to live, again. And over years and years, she told all of the stories…for one thousand and one nights, exactly. She wove the world we are in now. That was brave Sheherazade – telling stories for just one more day to live."

Shahra finished her little monologue at this, sounding slightly exhausted by now. "Do you understand now which character your friend has slipped into?"

Sonic nodded. "Yes…but that's a horrible story! I mean, dozens of innocent girls died in there after virtually being _raped,_ right?! I thought fairy tales were supposed to be…I dunno, _nice_! They're for kids, after all…" he said, sounding slightly perturbed.

Shahra's eye brows only rose slightly. "But master, whoever told you that?" She shook her head. "That's not what _real_ stories are like. The ones that are remembered. _Real_ stories, _old_ stories are about blood. They are about love. They are about beauty, despair, desire and death. Much may be forgotten, but these old tales have always survied. The Arabian Nights aren't _nice_ stories, Sonic. No old legends are."

A brief silence followed this, and Knuckles couldn't help but quietly agree – even the few echidna legends he knew were pictures painted in the colours of blood, gold, and metal, quite a few of them just as brutal as the late-night TV he had sometimes sneaked a glimpse at when he'd spent a night on the surface. (There had of course also been _other_ late-night TV shows which had made him turn off the television in an instant, though, his face even redder than its usual colour. He hadn't known females could even _do_ some of those things.)

But the parts of the Arabian Nights they had seen so far supported Shahra's words as well. This world was colourful, shining and brilliant – but if you looked closer, there was death and pain lurking around every corner.

_A real fairy tale,_ Knuckles mused at the end of his little mental monologue, _She's really right for once – whoever had the idea that those stories were for __kids__? _

"Huh. Creepy," Sonic only commented, before nodding into his friend's direction. "So she's not really herself right now?"

"Yeah, just look at her, Sonic," Tails supplied, "She's wearing different clothes like me."

Which was only true. The pink hedgehog had apparently left her red dress at home and was now wearing a white bandana instead of her usual headband that suited her nicely. In terms of clothing she had a similar tube-top like Shahra, hers a lighter shade of lilac than the genie's, as if the two were about to star in a wash lotion comparison commercial. It left her lower abdomen uncovered, peach belly fur like Sonic's shining in between the pink.

A thin gold belt secured another ivory harem pants around her waist, again comparable to Shahra's chosen article of clothing. The sakura girl's left a small slit for a short hedgehog tail to poke through at the rear end, but what on Shahra would have looked slightly disturbing, to be honest, was on Amy…rather cute. Her shoes were plain light custard leather and pointy, but she had kept the gold rings and gloves around her wrists and hands.

"So…you haven't been doing anything to her?"

"No, Sonic. Why would I have?"

"…I'm not even gonna answer that." The blue hedgehog shook his head. "Anything else you wanted besides dropping Amy off?"

"Does anybody here want to hear a story?" the pink girl interjected at that, apparently not yet on top of current events.

"Eh, not right now, Amy-"

"My name is Sheherazade, little fox girl."

"Wha-?! I'm a _guy_! I'm Ali Ba– oh _forget_ it," Tails muttered, before shooting a forlorn look at his brother. "Sonic? She confuses me."

"She has a habit of doing that," the older one admitted, sighing.

"Okay, can we cut the merry sitcom now?" Knuckles looked more than slightly peeved. "We found out that Amy's in the book as well. Okay. But _actually,_ we are trying to find the seven World Rings."

"And defeat the Golem King," Shahra added, "Otherwise he will burn up this world while we're still in it!"

"So you confronted an Ifrit and failed to beat him?" Robotnik picked up the conversation from earlier, now sounding thoughtful once more.

"Yeah…then we escaped back here," Tails mumbled in a tiny voice, looking at the ground shamefully as if what he was doing now was tantamount to betraying his team by admitting their defeat.

"Hmm." Robotnik's forehead creased into the frown characteristic of him as his mind shifted through the gigabytes of information he had consumed right before the…_girl…_had suddenly tackled him in the library, shrieking some nonsense about 'being _so _worried when the dinosaur carried you away!', 'being _totally_ lonely here, too!' and 'how could it even _lift_ your divine belly, my lord?!', at which Robotnik had taken slight offense. Still, the view of the three Sapients he counted among his most annoying enemies all looking to him for a solution and hating every minute of it was amusing and possibly made up for it.

He licked over his lips. "Well, in the records I studied there was a mention of an individual who is supposed to have defeated an Ifrit. Interestingly enough, he is also quite often noted in connection with the World Rings. He might be able to share some of his worldly knowledge with you if you can find him."

"Right," Sonic nodded, not quite able to keep the natural suspicion toward Robotnik out of his gaze. "So what's this fabulous guy called?"

"Ooooh, I know! I know! Can I tell the story?" Their most recent addition bounced up and down at this, waving her hand in the air. "Can I tell the story to _you_, my lord?" she then asked, somehow having gotten to Sonic's side quite fast.

The hedgehog took a step back. "Uh…Amy…"

"Maybe later, hedgehog girl." Shahra had also appeared rather suddenly and had grabbed Sonic's shoulders, yanking him away from the the other female. "Now he has _important_ business to take care of."

"Hedgehog _girl?!" _Sheherazamy bristled at this, ramming her fists into her hip. "I'm a _woman_, genie! I'm even one year above ideal marriage age! _Fourteen_ already!"

"So, uh, you were saying about this character, Eggman…?" Sonic was trying to back away just like all three other males, but unfortunately, Shahra kept an iron grip on his shoulder.

"Fourteen, eh? Well, I'm fourteen_hundred_, pink child!"

Jade eyes narrowed.

"Yes. It _shows._"

And Knuckles only wondered that with all the Stories running amok around here so far, no thunderbolt had showed up to dramatically throw Amy's face into profile at that last comment.

_Mental Memo:_ Even Apocalypses disappoint nowadays.

"Sonic? Can't you do something? They're honestly scaring me…." Tails said in a very tiny voice, resisting the urge to hide behind his brother. Meanhwhile, both hedgehog and genie girl were looking at each other like particularly mismatched tigresses and Sonic steak tartare in their midst. (Which the hedgehog was beginning to _feel_ like, too)

Nevertheless, the blue hero stepped forward.

_Sonic the Hedgehog, you always knew you were going to die on a battlefield. _

"Errm…I would be really happy if we could hear Eggman out now?" he tried tentatively.

"But of course, Master!"

"As you wish, my lord!"

Both females immediately beamed at him.

"…right." Sonic turned around, privately thinking that a simple fight on an artificial moon when it had just been him, _one_ girl, and a homicidal killer robot, had been easier.

He brushed over his head once, trying to get his thoughts together again.

"So, Egghead. The name? And if I hear _one_ comment, I'll leave you here when I found the rings."

"But Sonic, what do you think of me," Robotnik asked innocently, "After all, something like that would only _double_ your problems, wouldn't it?"

"Three seconds, doc, or your moustache comes off." Sonic's tone was _icy._

"Very well. The person you're looking for is called Sindbad the Sailor. According to my sources, he was last seen fighting some pirates when he was taken away by the Rukh."

"The Rukh?" Knuckles raised an eye ridge. Why did the whole situation suddenly send a shiver down his spine?

"In layman's terms, it could be called a giant bird," Robotnik explained, "Or rather, not exactly a bird. It's more like a giant fossil."

"Huh. Well. Okay, so where is this…bird-thing?" Sonic asked sceptically, strategically positioning himself between his genie and wannabe girlfriend as the glares had again intensified.

Robotnik raised his arm to point at the horizon. "I think the Rukh flocks someplace out in the skies to the west."

Sonic gave him an odd stare. "You have not been reading stories too long, have you? But if you say the skies…hey, Shahra!" he then called to distract the Supersmashbros free-for-all about to take place behind him, "Can you conjure that magic carpet from the very beginning again? We need to take off!"

"But of course, Sonic!" the genie smiled, delighted to be of use, but Tails started waving his hands before she could do anything.

"No, stop! Have you forgotten the reason why we're saving her magic? We need to restore Amy's mind first! Maybe she can even tell us where that book came from, then…"

"Drat, that's right…" Sonic snipped his fingers before looking at Shahra. "Can you do both? Help Amy _and_ get that carpet?"

Shahra shook her head. "No…I'm sorry. I only have the power of one more World Ring at my disposal, I'd need another one before attempting to do both."

Sonic sighed, then shook his head. "Well, we'll just have to find another way up then. Maybe those flying vases. Right, guys?" he asked, looking at Tails and Knuckles. The echidna only closed his eyes briefly, before giving a curt nod. The Guardian wasn't very pleased to use up the magic for Amy of all people, but at the same time, it would have been dishonourable to leave a helpless companion in a state such as this. And for some reason, he also suddenly wanted to delay the search for this Sindbad character as much as possible.

Tails inclined his head in agreement as well. "Yeah, everything else would be unfair, after all, we even healed _Eggman._"

"It's settled, then." Sonic nodded. "Shahra, would you?"

"But Sonic, surely it wouldn't hurt her if you just waited until-"

"Shahra, _please._" By now he was sure the next wish of his would have to include an aspirin.

"Yes, Master. As you wish." She sighed, but waved her hands obediently in the air and surprised jade eyes opened wide as the pink hedgehog girl was suddenly enveloped in white winds, even Robotnik watching in interest since he had never seen it before.

The winds cleared…

"Huh…wha…oh, _SONIKKU_!"

And Amy was back again in all her glory.

_To be continued…_

_

* * *

_

aaaaaand our latest arrival is here! Now hands up who was thinking it was somebody else. ;) rest assured, there is a reason. Hope you still liked the chapter, tho, and are kind enough to review!

Also, of course, The Conflicted Writer is still looking for voice actors for a radio play of this little tale and if you always wanted to lend the heroes of Mobius your voice, then don't hesitate to contact him! ;)

As for me, am currently enjoying the awesome sunshine in Cairns, north australia, and love every second of it. Keep your alerts ready for the next chappie when it's time for:

**Chapter 21: Taken! **


	21. Echidnapped!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this game, then Yami Yugi would be straight. In America.

**Alex Warlorn: **(shrugs) That's just Sonic. When he perceives his friends in danger, he will act quickly and without thinking beforehand. However, whether it was a mistake, only time will tell.

**petite-dreamer: **Heh, I think that's one of the greatest news to hear - that I inspired someone to write something, thanks for telling me! :D I hope I'll have the time to read it at some stage. And HEY, somebody read the story very carefully, your assumption is rather spot-on. :) I can promise a surprise...

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Heh, thanks, glad you thought the description was good. :) Thanks for the review!

**Shontiachaosmaster: **Hahaha, maybe? Things will probably a bit more predictable after this chappie...

**Hedgehog B. Rebecca: **Hmm...read and find out? ;) Thanks for commenting!

**Asher Tye: **All I can promise is a surprise, but your mental image IS funny...maybe I'll make a one-shot out of it.:) As for Amy and Shahra tearing up the Arabian Nights all without Erazor's help...well, read and find out? Thanks for the review! :D

**shadowfang324: **Hmm...maybe? Maybe not? XD And Knux being afraid of the Rukh...well, i'd say he has a very accurate gut feeling about what's going to happen over the next few chapters. ;) As for Sonic dying, only time will tell...

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Heh, thought you'd be happy about Amy being here. :D As for Sindbad...heh, everybody seems to have a certain idea about whcih character it's going to be. I guess I'll be able to have another surprise for you. ;)

**Porecomesis: **(bows) Why, thank you. Oh, and this story is mostly humour - for drama, please refer to Life Could Have Been So Different, but I prefer my adventures light-hearted. :) Less humour...well, this chapter had a lot of exposition and background building, so I guess that's why. Thanks a lot for the review and honorary suffix, I feel very flattered. :D

**Puzzlechu: **Heheheh, I like being able to suprise. :) Thanks for commenting!

**Blazichu: **(you and Puzzlechu related...?) I sure am. Like their echidna idol, Knuckles fans have to be taunted by us hedgehog disciples as a matter of course. XD Still, he IS a very cool character, so you just wait...;)

**St. Noof: **Heh, good luck with that! Wish I could check it out, but time is very hard to come by these days...hope that voice acting thing works out for you. :) And yeah, I love mythology as well, so the inclusion of the frame story was a must. :) Thanks for commenting.:)

**DC111: **Yupyup, I do. :D And yes, less action and humour, twas exposition time, meaning, a lot of people having monologues and other characters standing around and going: "What do you mean?" So the author can dump some more information on the readers because he/she likes to waffle. I'm such a hypocrite. XD This chappie the pace is going to pick up again, tho, and I can promise some more action as soon as the next level gets going...a thousand miles in the sky. ;) Thanks for the big review! :D

**Ri2: **Hahahah, not an Amy fan, are you? Don't seem to be too many, these days...however, I will try to make her be less of a nuisance. ;) Preferring the Disney Version is acceptable, I guess - I just prefer horror, mindless violence and murder because I'm a terrible person. However, still love my happy endings. XD Sonic in my continuity harbours some feelings for Amy but does not show them much - rather the whole 'doesn't want to be attached' and 'fears for her safety' thing going. And yes, poor Shahra. Poor, poor Shahra. Thanks for the review! :D

**YumeTakato: **(yume means dream...does Takato have a meaning?) Thanks! :)

**CerberAsta: **(grins) I hoped you would! What competition do you mean? Everybody knows Sonic is in love with Shad-(gets bashed).

**Wirewolf: **Looking forward to hear whether you expected the ending of this chapter. ;) (develops shifty eyes) Shh, nobody here is supposed to know of HIMM...Once Upon A Time is bad enough. XD Glad you liked the puggle, tho, I want it as a pet very dearly. XD Thanks for the reviews!

**star's dreams: **Heh, thanks! That's what I'm aiming for, glad to hear you enoy this and happy reading! :)

**FantomoDrako: **Does it help if some readers said the story was better than the game? Know how you feel, tho, I have been dying for years now because I can't play Sonic NextGen...x.x Thanks for the cheer, tho (and puns are awesome:) )

**Tucker from Blood Gulch: **Hey, you're _good!_ Nearly accurate. ;) And heh, seems a few readers picked up on that Shadow-hint...:)

**Avitala: **I dunno, can be kind of flattering, if two girls are fighting for you...but if one girl of them is Amy it turns rather scary...XD And yes, part of the mystery is going to be revelaed this chapter, so please read on...:)

**Ember Rock: **(falls off chair) big review is...big...and yes, I like Burning Arrow a lot, too, it's too much fun to write. :D And what can I say...banter is my fav humour of them all. ;) Had to chuckle at your view of King Sharyar, too. I think Sonic is starting to pick up on Shahra's slightly more...intimate feelings for him. Hmm, fans were screaming bestiality at Elise, dunno what would happen if it was a human genie of all things...:P And yes, sunshine was great, am all tanned now. Thanks again for that massive and detailed comment! :D

**greenleafprince:** Thanks! And yes, Knuckles has some very good reasons to be anxious, glad to hear you're enjoying this! :D

**kittylover1890:** Thanks! :)And no worries, this story is happy to be on any fav, alert and C2 lists where it can make some new friends. ;)

**amyfan4ever: **Heheh, with a name like that I guess it's no surprise that you'd say that. :P Hope you enjoy our heroine's adventures to come!

**Dynomite8: **Why, thank you, glad you like it. As for Knuckles being Sindbad and the subsequent paradox...heh, just read on and find out! ;) I can promise some amusing developments, though...as for Sonic and the Black Knight - how about I tell you about it as soon as I've played it? I'm travelling around the world at the moment, and the Wii didn't fit into my backpack.;)

**Luigifan1: **heh, you're back! :D (hands Sonja a TARDIS) Amy as Princess Jasmine is an interesting idea. I admit I hadn't thought of that - Sheherazade was my first idea on account of my research into the Arabian Nights and I admit it's been a while since I saw that Disney movie. ;) Plus, I wanted to tell the frame story of the book and Amy as Sheherazade seemed like a good way to do that. Hope you enjoy her in this chapter as well! :D

**Chapter 21: Taken!**

_Last time_..

"Yes, Master. As you wish." She sighed, but waved her hands obediently in the air and surprised jade eyes opened wide as the pink hedgehog girl was suddenly enveloped in white winds, even Robotnik watching in interest since he had never seen it before.

The winds cleared…

"Huh…wha…oh, _SONIKKU_!"

And Amy was back again in all her glory.

xxx

_Thank you, Shahra,_ Sonic thought later and there was no sarcasm in his voice. He could now sense the genie's presence in his mind, a tired cloud of smoke resting at the base of his skull again, the magical girl too exhausted to even form a physical presence. _I really appreciate it._

"_Yes, master."_ The reply came but it sounded like tears would.

_I __really__ appreciate it. Please call me Sonic again._

A mental nod, but still not cheered. He sighed and gritted his teeth.

_And she's __not__ my girlfriend. She only wants to be. _

A non-existant head was raised in the darkness of his mind.

"…_really?"_

_Yes. It's been something of a misunderstanding. For the __past five years__, I might add. _

"_Oh. Well, I guess I'll try to get my strength together soon, then, shall I? We still need to get up to the Rukhs." _

_You do that, Shahra. _Sonic gave an uneasy chuckle, pretty sure that on the outside he was already looking like a schizophrenic again. Well, he _was _talking with the voice in his head. _Between us four, we will be able to handle the night watch. You rest, okay?_

"_Yes. Thank you, Sonic." _

Then the genie's voice faded into what the blue hedgehog always thought of her equivalent of sleep and he sighed, focusing on the outside world again. The sky was darkening rapidly and Knuckles was just filling Amy in on what had happened previously and why Sonic was reacting badly to barbeque jokes at the moment. Tails was inspecting Robotnik's make-shift hovercraft that the scientist was busily coaxing into life again and the human appeared to be humouring the fox for the moment. Sonic felt uneasy seeing his little brother so close to his enemy, but he figured the doc really wouldn't try anything backhanded as long as he was trapped along with them.

Come to think of it again, how _had_ the human gotten in here? Sonic still didn't believe his amnesia story. Then again, with all the crap that had piled up so recently, it wasn't as if it really mattered - Shahra out of commission, himself forced into cooperation with his archenemy, his life-force somehow reduced, he was still trying to figure out whether Shahra was now developing a _crush_ on him, and, most of all, now he also had one more charge to look after and defend from danger.

_This would have been so much easier with just Knuckles or Shadow. Or maybe not __easier__, but I would at least feel better about the whole thing. _

The echidna always claimed that Sonic had less feeling of responsibility than a one-celled amoeba, and for once, the hedgehog wished he was right.

"Okay, I think she's up-to-date on current events now," said crimson companion roused Sonic from his ponderings, walking over and jerking a thumb at a slightly dazed-looking Amy. "How's the genie?"

"Recuperating. I suggest we camp here before going west tomorrow. We'll figure how to get up on the way."

"Suits me." Knuckles shrugged, "I'll go get food."

"No, wait!" Tails called to them as he heard the echidna's announcement, momentarily dragging his gaze away from the hover pod, "Before you leave, let's ask Amy where she got the book from! Maybe we can get to the bottom of this mystery this way."

"Right. Well, my Egg-O-Matic is working now, I'll be going then-!" Robotnik said, sounding just a tad too non-chalant for Sonic's eyes not to narrow.

"Wait a moment, Buttnik. Don't you want to know what happened to us?"

"Oh, I would, but it's getting late. You can tell me when you pass by the Palace again."

"Amy, how did you get a hold of that book?" Knuckles asked sharply, darkened violet eyes not looking at her but at a rather quickly retreating rotund scientist by now.

"Sonic's birthday present?" Amy asked, surprised. "Well, I told him, I ordered it from the Internet! Ivozon-dot-com. It's a huge book-selling site."

"_Ivozon-dot-com_?!" Three voices repeated the name at once, all of them directing it accusingly at the only human in the group who now looked just slightly nervous.

"I swear I don't know what-"

"It was such a cute description, too!" Amy smiled then, looking at something in her memory, "It said 'Buy this for the blue hedgehog of your dreams, and the magic of these tales of romance will capture his heart and make him realize you're his princess!' Ehh, not that I had any _backhand_ thoughts when buying this for you, I mean!" she suddenly blurted out, before slapping her hands in front of her mouth and blushing.

Tails blinked. Knuckles had already his hand in front of his eyes. And Sonic was furious.

When the hollered "_EGGMAN!_" erupted across the plains soon after, Ivo Robotnik had already departed with all boosters screaming.

xxx

"I had read about a supposed enchanted book that entraps its victims when they attempt to read it. It was said to be a very early experiment in Chaos Energy and dimensional transportation from the scholars of the medieval ages. After meticulous research I had located it and set out for acquisition, at which I eventually succeeded. I confirmed the theories upon examining the jewels on the cover, which proved to be Chaos crystals with the configuration of a matter transporter. Then I had already programmed a pack-droid to deliver it in a minute while I wrapped it up in the girl's specified paper. However, when I returned to the room after leaving it for a second, the book had inexplicably been opened and a mere accidental glance of mine was enough to make me a prisoner of the Arabian Nights. After that, I assume my servant bot sent the book as I had programmed, causing it to finally end up in your friend's hands. Now would you _please_ consent to get off me?!"

"Hmm. I don't know. Should we?" Sonic asked, where he was sitting on top of a rather beaten-up former hovercraft and present lump of Swiss cheese.

"We might as well. We got what we wanted, after all." Knuckles shrugged, still cross-legged at ease on top of Robotnik who was lying on his belly after being thrown out in the crash about ten minutes ago.

"Yeah. And what did I say at the beginning? It _is_ all Eggman's fault," Sonic added, giving a smug nod toward his crimson companion. "Even though I'll admit this time he acted even more stupid than usual."

Th scientist glared at him while dusting himself off. "If you continue in this manner, Sonic, I will gladly stop helping you and just watch as that charming arrow burns up your heart. I can't help but notice that the flame seems to have gotten smaller – am I right in assuming it's already eating its way into your chest?" Robotnik asked, the blue hedgehog inwardly shuddering at his words and the cold sparkle behind those dark glasses.

"You're so mean! Shut up right now or I'll _make_ you!"

"Yeah! One more word against Sonic and I swear I'll, I'll…I'll find a new place for your stupid hat feather! And _not_ in another hat!"

Faced with two very serious threats by both hedgehog girl and fox kit, the human scientist frowned but stepped back.

"Very well. No more of this. I will leave for the Palace as soon as I've repaired my hovercraft that you smashed if you will let me," he acquitted, before muttering: "Honestly, it's like the whole _world_ is up against me…"

xxx

"Query re: Location of Creator," Robo Knux grated, which was tech babble for "Where _has_ that guy gone, anyway?" Both mechas were standing around in the control room again, bored after ordering online everything but Switzerland. Metal Sonic's eyes glowed dully.

"Location unknown. But that fool has lost his mind at any rate – Just two weeks ago, I saw a book he had just left lying around, opened it and it contained fairy tales. He is obviously getting senile."

Robo Knux nodded, his new chips containing Mobian behaviour patterns working excellently. "Yes. Without us around, he would have perished long ago, no doubt."

"Indeed. By the way, didn't the debt collectors try to claim Tails Doll yesterday?" the red echidna-like robot then added, liking the sound of his new audio software.

"Affirmative." Metal Sonic nodded before smirking. "Haven't seen them since."

xxx

Robotnik scowled. "…and I can't help but think it's only getting _worse_."

xxx

Sonic shrugged as they were seated around the campfire some time later. "Well, I think the only boon of that jerk being here is that at least Mobius isn't in any danger from him while we're gone. I hope."

Then he winced as Amy pulled out another hidden cactus thorn out of his back, a grooming action that had to his discomfort provided no small amusement for the rest of their friends so far.

"Ouch! Be more careful, Amy, willya?!"

"I _am_ careful!" the girl complained, "But one would think that someone who's already heroically withstood torture in Robotnik's dungeons wouldn't make such a fuss about this."

"That –ow! – torture was purely psychological, Amy. And I actually think that's one of my quills you're pulling there." Sonic gave her a look over his shoulder where she was kneeling behind him, hard at work.

Seeing his expression, the sakura hedgehog had to giggle. "Ooops! It is! Tee-hee!"

_Oh, gods. She's actually enjoying this. _Sonic groaned quietly, hiding his face so he wouldn't have to see Knuckles' smirk and Tails' broad grin.

He did not _dislike _Amy as such because the girl had a heart of gold and could even be cute at times, but…

_Last year she gave me a neckring I can't get off, this year it was a cursed book. I'm __so__ glad at last Christmas' Secret Santa game she didn't draw me, otherwise I'd probably have ended up with an exploding parcel or something. _

"Where did you even collect all those thorns, anyway? What happened to you?" Amy asked, her slender hands still carefully sifting through his backspikes, a task that only came naturally to hedgehogs and was pretty dangerous for anyone else.

"That was in Dinosaur Valley yesterday. Sonic hit those cacti so often it was an actual _running_ gag I'd say."

"Knux. Shut it. I'm the comedian here, not you." Sonic gave the echidna a deadpan look, ignoring Tails' giggling.

Red eye ridges rose. "Oh, Sonic. Stop being so stung about it."

At which point another brawl would have started, and Tails was for the first time glad Amy was here, because now there were _two_ pairs of hands to hold the combatants back.

xxx

"…okay. So, tomorrow we'll head west to find that Sindbad person and we have to figure out how to get onto a Rukh, but that can wait. We'll also have to defeat that Ifrit at some point. Shahra's out of commission, so we'll triple the night watch to have everybody well-rested since we need it. Me and Knux each take one shift and you two do the last one together, kay?" Sonic asked, stretching as everybody was already nodding off. The others agreed – even if Tails wanted very much to prove to Sonic that he could handle a shift alone just as well as the older males, there was a certain banshee on his mind that made keeping watch alone in the darkness just that much more uncomfortable. He just wasn't sure whether a chattering Amy was the better alternative…

But it was a peaceful picture as both younger Mobians fell asleep cuddled up to the sides of their blue hero while a watchful dread-locked figure dutifully carried out his given first shift.

xxx

Knuckles' head snapped up in the darkness as he heard steps in the distance, his sleep instantly interrupted. Violet eyes darted around the campsite hastily – where was Sonic? It was _his_ shift! Then he relaxed only ever so slightly when he recognized the steps getting closer as those of the same hedgehog that obviously had been missing.

Sonic was greeted with a glare.

"Where the hell _were_ you, Sonic? It was your watch and you left!" Knuckles hissed, careful not to wake the younger two Mobians.

The blue hedgehog looked a bit sheepish, and also quite wind-ruffled. "Errrm…I met another li'l genie. Said he was called Uhu and challenged me to a race."

"What?" Knuckles' tone was emotionless.

"Only a tiny ball of blue light. Very cocky, though. Beat him of course, but only after chasing it through half of the desert."

"You abandoned your night watch for a _race_." The way Knuckles said it, it wasn't so much of a question but sounded more like a life sentence.

"Knuckles, he said he was faster than me!"

The echidna waited whether Sonic would elaborate. When nothing came, he raised an eyebrow. "…and?"

"_Faster than me, _Knux. Don't you see my point?"

Knuckles stared at him in silent contemplation. Then he punched the hedgehog and went back to sleep.

xxx

"Good Morn- oooh, Sonic, you're hurt! Did anything happen during the nightwatch?!" Amy asked as soon as her hero had sat up the following morning and she saw the rather black eye of his. He gave her a wry smile.

"Yeah. Some really foul red beast tried to attack us but I kept you guys safe."

"Foul beast?"

"Uh-huh. There's dangerous things in these fairy tales." Sonic kept his voice just quiet enough so Knuckles wouldn't hear him. "It was incredibly ugly. And smelled bad, too."

"In that case, thank you so much for chasing it off! It didn't bother us at all during our watch shift…and you should really try to get Tails to be as brave as you, by the way," Amy then said, her eyes wide and earnest, "He was absolutely scared _stiff_ the whole time, you know? Kept blabbering about a banshee."

"Oh. Really?" Sonic asked, trying not to look too guilty.

"Yes. I tried to calm him by distracting him with my Tarot Cards, but…"

"But what?"

"Well…the first card he drew was Death and then he somehow fainted."

_Mental Memo: _Next time, tell a story involving My Little Pony or something, you genius.

"I couldn't even explain to him that Death doesn't have to be _literal_ and he was all _Itsgoingtogetme_ and then…heh." Amy grinned sheepishly, gesturing to a prone, gold-furred body on the ground some metres off. Sonic grimaced.

"Ames? Please don't tell Knuckles about this…"

"Tell me about what?"

Sonic spun as fast as only Sonic could, once more mentally wondering how the loudest guy he'd ever met (barring Charmy, that is) could be so goddamn _quiet_ when he wanted to. Only barely noticing Tails in the background sitting up and groaning, the blue hedgehog gave the Guardian an unconvincing grin as he tried to figure out how to avoid getting smacked upside the head when Knuckles found out his ghost stories had caused one of their team members a full-fledged panic attack.

As it turned out, screaming and pointing at something behind the echidna would almost have worked.

"Knuckles! LOOK OUT!"

The Guardian gave him a dead-pan look. "If you're trying to distract me, hedgehaaAAA!"

Sonic had liked watching the 'Gargoyles' cartoon in his childhood, but it was a bit of a shock to see Knuckles kidnapped by one of them.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

wheee, Los Angeles is _sunny!_ :D More importantly, it's only three hours from the madness of COMIC-CON San Diego which I plan to attend. ;) (dances)

Now, who had expected that? Poor Knuckles, he's getting no break in this story...be along for the ride next time to see whether or how our heroes will save him!

**_Next Up! _Chapter 22**: **Unholy Alliance...**


	22. Unholy Alliances

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game, there would have been a party game where you can intentionally hurt Big. Or Chris. Or both. **

**Review Replies! **

**Fantomo: **No worries, the part with Sindbad is actually _almost _written already. Or rather, the part where they start travelling to Sindbad is almost written. If that doesn't fill you with hope, I don't know what does. :P But I'm glad you like the long and lengthy build-up and little insanities anyway! :D

**Chaser Warring on Everything: **Wheeee, Chaser!!! (waves flags) Nope, Knuckles getting kidnapped wasn't actually rushed, but a cliffhanger. Actual, lengthy kidnapping starting…now!

**Luigifan1: **A TARDIS. Also known as Time And Relative Dimension In Space, or a weird blue phone box travelling through time and the universe. Very handy, I tell you. ;) Knuckles getting kidnapped too short to be the titular scene…hmm, you're not the only one saying that. I think I should change the chapter title if only I could think of another one. Any ideas?

**St Noof: **Hmm…possibly because Sindbad is the most exaggerated and silly character in the series? XD As for your fics, I'm really sorry because you must be tired of hearing this, but I still haven't had the _time…_I'm just about to leave on another trip to the Netherlands this time.  Hope you understand and thanks a lot for still reviewing!

**DC111: **Heh, glad you think so! The problem with only focusing on the plot is that it tends to diminish the re-reading value. Like a very plot-centred murder mystery, for example, that's no fun reading again if you already know it was the butler in the library with the crockery collection. Thanks so much for your comment, I always enjoy them! :D

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Thanks! I understand you're an Amy fan, so if you like the way I write her then I must be doing something right.  Comic-con was fantastic, btw, and I spent wayyy too much money on merchandise. XD Now let's hope they can save Knuckles and thanks for always reviewing!

**YumeTakato: **Cool, thx for the info. Glad you liked the chapter, too, thanks for the comment!

**Asher Tye: **Hahahah, glad you liked that bit.  I figured there had to be some explanation as to where Sonic got the book from in the game and if anyone in the Sonicverse is to blame for something, usually the fault can be placed square on the shoulders of the Round One…XD Now for the next chapter, tho, and I hope your nerves are stronger than Tails'! ;)

**Avitala: **Woah, Knuckles wouldn't like you, would he? XD Then again, he'd probably HATE _me_ by now, so that's okay…thanks for commenting, glad you like it! :P

**amyfan4ever: **Heheh, glad you liked the pun, awful word plays are my fav. XD What Tails did to deserve the stuff I throw at him? Please see my profile. ;) Right now Sonic is more concerned about Knux not getting killed before not letting him live this down, tho…

**CerberAsta: **(Did I ever ask for the story behind your name?) Glad you like Amy being part of the team, I was worried about a far more negative reader reaction to her! Now, more adventures to come…thanks for the review!

**Ngandu the Croc: **WOAH, mega-review! Never mind, I like those…;) And no worries, Sindbad confrontation will hopefully be everything you desire. I read Dragonbreath1's SatsR fic and have learned. ;) Well-written Sonadow…yeah, it IS somewhat of a novelty, I grant you. But as you said, Sonic tha playa is always on top of his game, of course. :P Erazor has not yet learned how to make good fanfic tho, and this means we have one epic adventure at hand. Thanks SO much for that massive comment!

**petite-dreamer: **(frantic shushing noises AGAIN) Noooo, don't tell everyone! This is supposed to be a grand revelation! Seems like not only Robotnik's gotta work on his subtlety skills….:P I enjoy having you reading a lot, tho. I hope you will be able to beta my Sonic/Who crossover with those eagle eyes of yours! :D

**Ri2: **Sonic Rule #1: It's ALWAYS Robotnik's fault. Sonic Rule #2: Sonic will race anything with legs, and in the case of Uhu, he didn't even need that. :P As for Metal Sonic's and Robo Knuckles' antics…please read on!

**Blazichu: **Cliffhangers are the reason for my existence. Of course, they're also the reason for about a hundred percent of annoyed readers, but I think I can live with that….;) Thanks for the comment, tho, glad you liked it despite that! :P

**Tucker from Blood Gulch: **Naaaw, Tarot drawing is easy. I do it occasionally and all you need are some mediocre observation skills concerning the person sitting in front of you, some general sayings that would be accurate for most people and a bit of psychology. ;) Congratulations for predicting Knux' disappearance tho, maybe you're more psychic than your Tarot guy? XD Oh, and I LOVE GOTF! :D Please also see umbra-rockchick's sketch titled 'Uhu is this?' on devart. :D

**Chapter 22: Unholy Alliances **

"_Knuckles!" _Sonic screamed in shock, instinctively lunging after the form of his friend as the echidna was suddenly ripped into the sky.

The hedgehog's fingers clawed through thin air. Screams erupted from the rest of the group as Sonic staggered to regain his balance, the yellow and green boots of his friend vanishing from his field of vision.

It was an attack of gargoyles.

Sonic could barely make out the finer features of the winged, taloned creatures but they had come swooping down from the air, grabbing Knuckles beneath the armpits and carrying him up with them.

"Knuckles!" Tails also screamed after him, taking off almost immediately, the pinioned monsters soaring high with a speed that should not have been possible, much less for a creature made from solid stone.

"Shahra! Do something!" Sonic yelled, panicking. It was a full nine of them (How did you even call a group of gargoyles? 'Murder' seemed here much more appropriate than for crows) and they were already flying away. Hundreds of feet up, Sonic couldn't do anything but listen to the screams of his friends and the frantic beat of his heart. It hadn't been three seconds since the taking of Knuckles.

"_What is happening, master? What...oh my god." _Shahra's voice resounded inside his skull, first sleepily, then gasping in shock. "_He can't hope to overcome them!" _

Sonic blinked, at first not realizing what she meant but then he also saw it. High in the distance, Tails had reached the group of gargoyles, his namesakes whirling as he charged to the rescue. Three gargoyles dislodged themselves from the back of the formation, circling in on the lone fox, and Sonic shouted in an attempt to warn him, but there was too much air in between them to hear each other.

"Shahra, I mean it! If you have any magic left, use it! Get me some extreme gear or _anything!_" the blue hedgehog gave his genie a desperately pleading look.

"I'm sorry, Sonic, but I don't-" Shahra was burying her face in her hands, looking as if she wished to die, but Amy interrupted her.

"Typical. Look at this, genie, and tell me I can't do magic as good as you!" the pink girl stepped up to Sonic's side, held out her hand and jade eyes lit up like northern lights as her hammer materialized akin a mjoellnir born from hellfire. She hurled it with a scream.

The gargoyle it hit exploded in a million pieces, granite rain falling from the sky to shower the two hedgehogs and going right through the genie, leaving faint traces of smoke. The stone creature had been about to attack Tails though, and the explosion had blown the two-tail off course. Sonic tried to glance upwards through his arms shielding him from the splinters and make out the silhouettes of the fighters in the sky against the glaring sun.

"Don't worry, Sonic, I will take them out in no time!" Amy flashed a bright smile at him and Sonic would have found the same eagerness to impress in her eyes that also marked Tails had he only bothered looking. Her hammer had disappeared in the explosion and she held out her hand to summon it out of thin air anew.

Up in the sky, the fight continued on. The gargoyles, bursting apart like scared sparrows as one of their number so drastically ceased to exist, now circled Tails again with the ferociousness of eagles. Sonic could see how the small figure dodged their swipes, a claw coming so close to slash him in half and the blue hedgehog's heart almost stopped. As disgusting as it was, he feared for Tails' life right now more than for Knuckles' and almost wished his little brother would come down again. Knuckles was usually in way less danger of dying than the kit.

_But of course, Tails would never do that. He's spent too much time around a certain idiot reckless hedgehog to think about any danger to himself,_ shot through Sonic's head and again he felt someone trying to squeeze his heart in a thumb screw as Tails once more tried to get through to Knuckles and almost got walloped by a granite wing that most certainly would have broken every single bone in his little body.

He shot a glance at Amy whether she couldn't destroy that particular one but only a new wave of dismay hit him as he became aware of how the pink girl was suddenly struggling to summon her hammer. It flickered in and out of existence in her hand and her face was screwed up in concentration.

"I...I don't understand..." she pressed out through gritted teeth. "Usually it comes...way easier than this..."

Sonic's glance flickered once more to the sky.

Tails had curled up and homing-attacked one of the flying monsters, but it didn't have a lot of effect - it was like hitting a marble wall. His older brother on the ground groaned at his own inability to get up there and fight but it didn't do him much good. He thought Tails looked down at him for a split second as if considering flying back down again to hoist him up so he could throw Sonic's spiky form at their enemies, but then his attention rushed back to Knuckles.

With an incredible act of strength, it seemed to Sonic, the echidna had ripped out one of his captor's arms out of its socket and was now dangling from one shoulder, preparing to smash the chest of his attacker to pieces with his free hand.

"Finally!" Amy next to Sonic gasped. Her hammer, bright and red and shining had appeared fully in her hand and she carefully took aim, before hurtling it towards the retreating gargoyles. Both hedgehogs on the ground now had to run to keep up with the aerial fight.

And then, things went awfully wrong.

Knuckles' fist hit his gargoyle's wing instead. The creature screeched and tumbled from the sky, broken limb flailing, dragging the Guardian with it to death. Tails' dived after them and caught the tail of the falling gargoyle in the head. He dropped, ironically, like a stone. Finally, Amy's hammer smashed through another gargoyle and hit Knuckles before evaporating. Within seconds, both airborne Mobians had been disabled and the remaining six gargoyles grabbed a limp echidna out of the arms of their falling comrade, before flying away as fast as their stone wings would allow. All Sonic could see was Tails falling to his death in the distance.

The sonic boom almost threw the gargoyles out of the air.

With an expertly timed jump, Sonic hurled himself skywards, his and Tails' flight paths crossing at the exact point he had expected. Curling himself around the fox, Sonic spun, transforming the downward acceleration of his little brother into a circular movement, rolling on the ground to save both of their lives.

"Tails!" Wary of the fact that he might have a concussion, Sonic refrained from shaking the life out of the kit, but gripped his face nevertheless in both of his hands. "Tails, talk to me!"

"Augh..." the twin-tail groaned, but managed to blink eyes open groggily. Then, memories seemed to come back. "Knuckles!" he blurted, his azure stare now wide and fearful. "We've got to save him! They didn't hurt him, but...!"

Amy arrived at their side at this moment, panting. "They're flying west, Sonic! And I can't summon another hammer! What shall we do?!" her hands were clenched into fists in front of her chest and she looked again at him as if he knew the answers to everything.

Sonic glanced up sharply. The gargoyles were indeed disappearing into the western clouds and gaining distance rapidly. There was no possible way to get up there and the way the desert stretched on in front of them it didn't look as if there was anything coming up, either.

Normally, this wouldn't have bothered Sonic so much, thinking up a solution as he went along was one of his specialities, but now he didn't have the time anymore. Now one of his friends was in acute danger.

"We have no choice," he said slowly, his eyes becoming hard chips of gemstone blade. "We have to ask Robotnik for help."

xxx

"Now this is interesting," RoboKnux noted, consulting some readouts on one of his creator's various consoles.

"What?" Mecha Sonic inquired, at the moment twisting and turning in front of a mirror to see how his new cape went with his elf shoes. "Something new on our Lord and Master's whereabouts?"

"No." RoboKnux shook his head, his mechanic dreadlocks staying eerily still through the motion. "It could just be a sensor failing, but...according to these readouts, there just has been a significant temperature reduction at the Earth's core."

Mecha raised an eye ridge. "What, hell frozen over?"

xxx

"What are you doing here?" Robotnik stepped backwards warily. He had been engaged in study, trying to find out more about the location of the other World Rings. Something about that old King, Solomon, had sounded promising. And the riches he was supposedly associated with might come in handy as well. Why that blasted hedgehog was back in the Palace though and bothering him, he had no idea. The Doctor knew Sonic didn't attack unprovoked, so he wasn't too worried about his personal safety, but Robotnik could tell something was off. The blue hedgehog was covered in sand and dust, his pelt sticking to his skin as if he had been exerting himself for a considerable amount of time. His companions looked equally wretched, wobbling around behind their hero like serious motion sickness victims. That is, wait a moment...

"Where is that echidna?" Robotnik asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He preferred to keep his enemies in view.

"Knuckles got...abducted," Sonic admitted, avoiding the Doctor's eyes. "It was by a bunch of gargoyles. Shahra says she knows where they live on their floating fortresses and now..." he took a deep breath, as if to steel himself for what he was about to say. "Now we need your help to get us up there fast. We ran all day to get back to the Palace."

Which explained the through-the-wringer appearance of the Sapients. When Robotnik didn't reply instantly, Sonic raised his gaze to his dark glasses again.

"Give us your hovercraft."

"My Egg-O-Matic, Sonic, is at the moment incapable of gaining any altitude higher than two metres. _Somebody _wrecked it." His voice gained just a slightly acidic edge at the end of that sentence.

"Don't try me, doc. I'm not in the mood for jokes." The blue hedgehog gave him a tired glare. "Fact is, we need to save Knuckles, so I want some means of transportation. Now."

"How do you know he isn't already dead?" It was said with the doctor's usual lack of compassion, merely asking a reasonable question. However, even the human knew not to push it as fury flashed behind Sonic's eyes, his glance only darting for fractions of a second to his two younger friends. Robotnik wasn't sure whether it was his imagination, but he thought the small flame on the hedgehog's chest had roared higher for a moment as well.

"If I may interrupt, your Majesty, I don't think he is," a small voice made itself heard as the genie appeared again, her green face only testifying to the speeds her Master must have been travelling at and what she personally thought of them. "The...the gargoyles...oh god." She turned an even deeper shade of green and there was a sudden interval as one of the Palace's vases was rather shockingly abused. Shahra pulled her head up again afterward and now looked even paler under her olive skin than should be possible. Both Amy and Tails couldn't resist sneaking a glance into the vase in horrid curiosity while Shahra explained for the scientist what the Mobians already knew.

"It is their annual celebration for their gods. The Guardian is destined to become their...uh, sacrifice. But we have a few days left before they would execute him, so there is still time."

"Those gargoyles are even more twisted than you, Buttnik," Sonic added, his face screwed up in disgust, "Shahra also told me that the spears that rained down on us on our way to the Palace had been thrown by them while they were above the clouds. Also part of their 'celebrations'," he said, trying to ignore Amy's and Tails' whispers of "She really barfed _smoke?!" _in the background.

"Really. What interesting local customs," Robotnik muttered absent-mindedly, stroking his moustache. "Well, Sonic, under the usual circumstances I don't mind telling you I wouldn't lift a finger to help the echidna. His stubbornness to give up that gemstone of his for my plans has been an annoyance - even though the occasional duping him is a small amusement. However," he continued, seemingly ignoring Sonic's scathing gaze and Tails' almost feral snarl at this debasement of the Guardian, "I will help you out in this case if only because the location of your friend seems to be the same as of that Sindbad character. Find him, find the World Rings and if you have to, get your spiny companion out while you're there."

"He saved your life in Dinosaur Valley, Eggman. But I guess I shouldn't expect you to have any sense of honour." Sonic's voice was cold as he said this, holding Tails back with one hand. _Jeez. Who'd ever thought that I would be the one going on about morals as soon as Knucklehead wasn't around? _

"No, Sonic. You shouldn't." Robotnik sounded almost suprised and maybe even faintly amused which disgusted the blue hedgehog even further. The scientist turned his back to them. "Very well. I'll see what I can do. But it will probably take me the entire night. Longer if you insist on pestering me. See you in the morning." With that, he strode out of the library, his cape fluttering lightly behind his wobbling bulk.

"What a _jerk_."

Tails had summed up all of their opinions nicely.

xxx

"Sonic? I'm sorry I screwed up."

"Huh?" The hedgehog raised his gaze from where he had been staring into the flames of the fireplace. He was now looking at a morose Tails who was again twiddling with his appendages, a sure sign that the fox kit felt either nervous or wretched.

"I'm sorry," Tails repeated. "I'm sorry I botched Knuckles' rescue." The last word now sounded as if the young Mobian had had to bite back a sob there.

"It wasn't your fault, Tails." Sonic replied, sighing. The general mood was sombre. The three Mobians were huddled in the far side of the hall that was part Robotnik's living room in the Palace, part his workshop, listening to the Doctor meddling about in the background. Sonic would have preferred to sleep outside, as he always did, but Amy had complained that in the desert it got far too cold once the sun was down, so the quartet had relocated to the room that the human scientist had kept nicely warmed up for himself. A cat in the kingdom of hot tin roofs couldn't have been twitchier than Sonic in such close proximity of their archenemy, but even greater than his urge to put some distance between him and the human was Sonic's compulsion to protect his friends, and so he (reluctantly) stayed with them.

Right now the Mobians were having dinner after all day had been spent running and now that their bodies didn't have anything specific to do anymore, their minds all had started wandering and going over the royally screwed up events of this day.

"Yes, it was my fault. I could have saved him and let myself get whacked in the head," the fox mumbled, rubbing the throbbing bruise on the side of his face. "How come _Knuckles_ never gets whacked in the head when he saves one of us, Sonic?" he asked, looking almost deploringly at his older brother.

_Because Knux usually thinks before rushing in headfirst_, Sonic thought, but didn't say out loud. Tails had been charging in in a rush only because he had learnt from the master of all rushers, after all.

"Well, with his skull if things whack him it's _them_ that get broken," he replied instead and managed a wry smile, even if his comment failed to cheer the little fox up. The hedgehog put a hand on his charge's shoulder. "Hey. You were going great up there. In fact, out of all of our group_, I_ was the useless one." Sonic barked a harsh laugh at this, hoping Robotnik wasn't listening in right at this second.

"That is not true, Sonic. You saved Tails after his fall, after all. It was the _genie _who didn't do anything," a new voice interrupted at this, jade eyes glittering over at the males in the shine of the fire. Amy crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I don't know why I had suddenly trouble summoning my hammer for a second time, but your useless magic bottle girl who is supposed to have power in this world sure failed to help."

Sonic levelled a stare at the pink hedgehog. "Amy. Not that your performance wasn't without its merits, but last thing I saw, you threw a hammer at Knuckles' _head_."

"But-!"

"Also, Shahra used up her last magic to restore _your _memories, don't forget that."

"That isn't fair!" Amy exploded, waving her arms. "You try cheering Tails up when he failed completely, and I get _scolded?_ I destroyed the most of the gargoyles! I...I thought you'd be _impressed_..._"_ The furious fire in her gaze had dissolved instantly into a moist shimmer pooling in her eyes and now Amy looked crestfallen.

"No, no, Amy, listen, your fighting _was_ really impressive, but-!" Sonic tried to interject quickly, but a choke from his right distracted him. Tails now looked close to tears, too.

"Sonic, I _did_ fail completely, didn't I? I didn't even destroy one of them..."

"Maybe, kiddo, but that's not-" Sonic's attention had quickly diverted to Tails, desperately wanting that lower lip to stop wobbling, but already seeing that it was a losing battle-

_"I AM a useless magic bottle girl!" _Shahra wailed at that moment in his head and all of a sudden, all three of them burst into tears, with Sonic momentarily wishing he _had _slept outside and left them all to Robotnik's tender mercies.

Mental Note: Next time, let _yourself_ get kidnapped by the gargoyles.

xxx

The rising moon after a few hours saw the three Mobians peacefully sleeping, though. Only a few minutes of wailing and crying had been enough to chase an exasperated Dr. Robotnik from the room, giving Sonic at last enough peace of mind to calm his friends down and encourage them to get some sleep. The hedgehog knew that physical exhaustion often gave way to emotional drama and that rest was the best remedy in that case.

After Shahra had besieged him to get some sleep himself, the blue hero even at last closed his eyes himself, falling into unconsciousness instantly. The genie had sworn to guard them as vigilantly as possible, not batting an eye away from the doctor working in the room again. And so the time had passed in silence, the three Mobians breathing softly while the girl watched and the human worked away in the twilight...

Robotnik still hadn't discarded the King's garb, choosing much like Amy and Tails to remain largely in costume. However, while the bulky figure had looked so ridiculous during the day, now that he was surrounded by steel and chrome and bathed in the light of his welding tools or torches, his face a mask of concentration while slender and powerful fingers manipulated metal and willed wrenches to work, the Doctor looked like a true master of his realm, an undisputed emperor of the mechanical and wizard of wires. Robotnik was bent over a table, working on what appeared to be a large metal tablet. There were wires poking out of it, pieces of metal attached to it like fins and other parts, even powders, all scattered around the working surface. To his feet were cylinders, rolls of fabric and the mentioned welding tools, more outlandish pieces of machinery lying on their sides or whirring softly.

Sharah could barely tear her gaze away from him now, her glances only occasionally darting to the three figures that had made a kind of nest for themselves in the pillows. Tails was wrapped in his namesakes, Amy had curled up under a blanket, both of them having snuggled up instinctively against the softly snoring body of Sonic the Hedgehog, their elder and protector.

"You don't have to watch me like a Closed Circuit TV cam, you know. I am not planning on harming the hedgehog."

Shahra, roused from her pondering, gave a little gasp at this sudden breach of the silence. But hearing the words, she couldn't help but give a small, relieved smile as she replied. "I had hoped you wouldn't, your Majesty."

"Because, you see, the eradication of this blue pest is one of my life's goals. The only reason I intend on not harming Sonic is because he is asleep right now," Robotnik continued, his voice and face as dispassionate as they had been in the beginning even though the smile on Shahra's face had just frozen and crashed. The scientist gestured to the unconscious hedgehog during his last words, Sonic's face screwed up in a frown and his ears twitching, possibly in an instinctive reaction to his archenemy's voice even in his sleep.

"No,...'Shahra', isn't it? No, you see, when I kill Sonic, I want him to know it," Robotnik informed the air and a dumbstruck genie in general while his right wrist tightened some screws. "I want to see him _see _his end coming, I want to see him _realize_ I've finally defeated him, I want to...how did someone once put it so aptly?" Robotnik finally gave her a cold, cold grin.

"I want to see him die not in a bang, but with a whimper."

At this point, Sonic turned over in his sleep, semi-incoherently muttering something that sounded suspiciously like: "Well, you, Robuttnik, can kiss my spiny, furry-" before rolling around fully, muffling the rest of his sentence in the pillows.

"Wh...what?" Shahra's mouth was gaping in a grimace of fearful disbelief, her eyes as wide. Frail hands, trying to cover her face out of habit, were trembling. The genie had trouble to stay coherent, her mind reeling at this amount of cruel calculation and deliberate sociopathy.

Robotnik gave her a look that could have been pity, had he but known the meaning of the word.

"You didn't expect this from me, genie, did you? I have been so _nice _after all." He sighed. "Helping your little troupe find the World Rings, not even harming the pink brat when she was in my power? You probably thought I had some kind of, ah, good heart." It was said with merely a hint of sarcasm, not open mockery. One could even have detected a trace of weariness in there, but it was impossible to tell whether that stemmed from Robotnik's feelings on the issue, or his growing exasperation with tthe rocket contraption he was currently fiddling with and paying far more attention to. Dark glasses at last turned when the genie made at least an attempt at a reply, though sounding almost desperate and definitely pleading.

"I...I thought, yes, I thought, maybe after all, you would...."

"And that, Shahra, is where you thought _wrong_." Robotnik's moustache quivered at the last strong notion and he stroked it as he continued in an almost lecturing tone. "So many people think like you. They try to see the _good _in other people. They give them another chance. And that, fortunately, is what allows people like me to take advantage of you again and again and _again._" The Doctor, akin to a demonic scholar, now seemed to take a certain delight in the conversation. He was gazing at Shahra as if she was a rather promising specimen cut open on a laboratory table. The genie herself now was shaking, tears brimming in almond-shaped eyes.

"Taking…advantage of me…" the genie whispered, her gaze now directed inward, as if she was looking at images inside her own head that she was at the same time trying to shut out.

Robotnik raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes, we do. And people like me – and I use this term in the loosest sense, since I'd be very surprised to find another genius as brilliant as me in this day and age – what I mean are manipulators and liars, veilers of the truth, _do_ take advantage of other people. And we're also quite good at recognizing colleagues. Isn't that so, Shahra?"

"_What?!" _The magical girl positively shrieked the word now, before hastily whipping her head toward her Master. Sonic was still sleeping peacefully though, even his genie's outburst not enough to break through his exhaustion. By now the conversation was much more a battle of nerves and wits than simple small talk and Shahra stood as much chance in this as a mouse in a game of tag with a tiger. It was a game, simply put, which was tearing her to shreds.

"That shriek was practically a confession if I hadn't known for sure," Robotnik tutted. "You are not a very entertaining conversationalist for a bit of a mind game, you know?" the scientist gave her a mildly irritated glance and even returned to his work. "And don't be so surprised, girlie. Every fool could have told that you are hiding something from us." His moustache quivered dismissively.

"Now, Sonic has this annoying agenda of giving everybody more chances than they deserve, even m-…" For some reason he gave a pause here, but then just shook his head as he continued on: "Which I guess is why he lets you do as you please. The other two brats are too young and innocent to think of anyone badly but me –" a smirk made his upper lip curl and hide underneath the facial hair, "and the echidna is thick enough not to recognize the truth if it gave a yodelling concert atop his prized Emerald, so with these idiots you are fairly safe. But I know you plan more than you are letting on and if you were my problem, not Sonic's, then I'd use my welding tools on your ring until you sang your secrets in ballads."

He sighed. "For now, though, you are under that blue pest's protection, and frankly, I do not care. As long as it only complicates Sonic's life, you may do as you wish. But if it should turn out to be anything that would hinder me from escaping the Arabian Nights, then you will wish that Doctor Ivo Robotnik had never read a single page of your blasted book. Understood?"

Shahra nodded frantically, tears now flying wildly from her eyes and cheeks into the dark.

"Splendid." Robotnik peered at her over his tinted glasses, before committing himself fully to his work again. "Never forget, Shahra, it takes one to know one, and if I'm not mistaken you are a traitor _extraordinaire_… "

xxx

Dawn came with bright sunlight, buzzards screeching in the sky and Sonic making caustic remarks about echidnas always managing to get kidnapped into the most inconvenient locations possible. The trio of Mobians took their breakfast in a unsteady, uncomfortable mood, all of them knowing that there was precious little time to waste. Shahra kept making strange "Ah…" and "Uhm-" noises, but never elaborated further when the others gave her a questioning glance, so eventually, she was ignored entirely. Amy was glad to notice that Robotnik somehow had managed to engineer some sort of coffee-making machine. It looked like part of a steampunk interior design catalogue, but the stuff it produced was drinkable and so it was that at least one member of their team was (slightly worryingly so) cheerful and perky when they strode over to Robotnik's working place, where the scientist was busily snoring in his seat.

"Oy! Wake up!" Sonic snipped his fingers. "We got a knucklehead to save!"

The Doctor stirred into life with a sort of 'Chhrrrt-_splort!_ – sound, and it took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings again.

'SWATbots! _Shoot hi_-oh, good morning."

"Good morning to you too, Buttnik," Sonic's tone was so icy it would have embarrassed an igloo. "Now where's that transport you promised?"

"Ah, of course!" The fat human hopped out of his chair with a surprising amount of agility. "I worked on it all night and I have to say I am rather proud of the result. Now, prepare yourselves for a work of genius – the _Egg Carpet_!"

With an unnecessarily grand gesture, he whisked away a cloth that had been covering the rather large, but flat contraption that had been lying on the working bench. The Mobians stared at it in silence. Finally, Sonic spoke.

"It's a plate of scrapmetal that you nailed a piece of cloth on and stuck a rocket to and now you expect me to sit on it. Listen, I won't say that I appreciated your earlier efforts to kill me, but at least a giant checkered wrecking ball didn't seem as _underhanded_, you know?"

"It's not a piece of scrap metal!" Robotnik huffed in bruised dignity. "It's a flying carpet!"

"You can call it baked cheese. I'm not going to fly on something that is probably going straight into the next wall."

"It does seem fairly safe, Sonic…" Tails made himself heard, having already poked his nose into the wiry underside of the board and knocking his screwdriver against things. "It's got some steering mechanisms and everything."

"See? Listen to fox boy," Robotnik sneered. "I programmed this thing to fly to the height of the Rukhs of the Gargoyles without a hitch. It's perfect. Besides, what did you expect me to build with these resources, a spacecraft?"

Sonic merely scowled at him, not happy with the way things were but unable to come up with a alternative, either.

"If this goes wrong, Eggman, I'm going to haunt you. And you'll find ectoplasm in spaces that would make even Black Doom scream."

Xxx

"Sonic, can I hold your hand? I'm scared to fall off."

"Uh…sure, Tails. If it makes you feel safer."

"Sonic, can I hold all of you? I'm also very scared."

"Amy, after all this coffee you've been grinning like a lobotomy patient all morning. I don't think you're scared."

"But _Sonikku_!"

"_Is everybody finally settled_?" Robotnik's voice grated from their right side, where the scientist was busy coaxing a wooden torch into life. Finally, he simply stuck it into Sonic's chest flame.

"Hey!"

"Oh, get over it. Can I light the fuse now?"

The 'Egg Carpet' had been installed on a little ramp on the roof of the Palace by now and was pointing westwards. Sonic, Amy and Tails sat on it, grabbing the edges and each other in various stages of attachment. The Rukhs in the sky were invisible in the clouds. Robotnik cleared his throat in impatience.

"For Chaos' sake, yes. Light the rocket," Sonic said, unwillingly. His hold on both Amy and Tails tightened. If only they hadn't lost Knuckles to the Gargoyles…

"Uhm, Sonic?" Amy asked just as the burning torch made contact with the fuse of their carpet express.

"Yes?"

"I was just thinking. This thing is powered by a rocket, and this just reminded me of Toy Story…aren't rockets meant to explode?"

And at that point the spark hit the powder and the carpet shot into the sky with all four of its passengers screaming their lungs out.

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_Whew. As always LOTS of new complications, plus the danger of going BANG. Raise your hands who else loves this. ;) Next up, of course is even more action when it's time for:

**Chapter 23: Levitated Ruin! ATTACK! **

If you read, please review? :D


	23. Levitated Ruin! ATTACK!

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game, Shahra would've been replaced by Robin William's genie. ****Seriously, he's blue and completely off his rocker, he's perfect for Sonic. **

**Porecomesis: **Sure, everything shorter's fine by me;) And yup, I like my Robotnik like my eggs - hard-boiled. (gets bricked for horrid pun) If there's a character around that's allowed to be evil I enjoy writing them as bad-ass I can. :) Cute ending, btw and still thanks for the long

**Infectus: **Yay, another Robotnik fan! :D Glad you liked how that scene called things into question - no point in the story getting predictable, no? Thanks for reviewing:)

**YumeTakato: **Ahh, another old friend.:) Glad you liked it, have fun with this one!

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Heh, non-gamers have even more surprises waiting for them than the others, I hope this will be so much fun for you! Not that I wouldn't have my hands full with providing enough plot twists for people who know the storyline already...;) Things Shahra is hiding - hmm, well, there are _little _hints, like in the end of Chap 11, but I'm not sure whether they would make any sense at all if you haven't played it. Still, the foreshadowing is gonna grow heavier, so I hope you enoy this chapter as well, now that they're coming speedier. Thanks lots for the comment! :D

**Blue Mage Quartet: **I hope uni won't get too much in the way of writing for _me..._:P Heh, but glad you liked the quill-scene, I had it planned for a long time. Mind you, I don't run around in fursuits on conventions, but it annoys me when their anthro forms get ignored in highschool!fics and the like, so I enjoy throwing funny scenes and references to their actual forms in there. :) And of course, Sonic/Tails 'big brother protects kiddo' is the one thing sure to make me go 'awww...!!' in fanfic. XD In the actual game, tho, it was ME who would've wanted to punch that little blue light...I'm happy you liked my Robotnik portrayal. When I write him, I still have JudasFm's version of him in mind who _tortured and crippled _Sonic until he was broken and effectively haunts my dreams still, so....yeah. He's a LOT more impressive than the games' current Yayletsteamupandsavetheworld-version, methinks...;) As for Amy, she's interesting in the fact that while Sonic and Knuckles are kinda 'adult' characters and Tails is still more of a child than anything, she teeters in between - trying to impress Sonic that she's his equal while still revealing her insecureness at only 14 years of age. Thanks for both detailed reviews, I always enjoy them! :D

**Asher Tye: **(blushes) Thanks!! Coming from you, that means something to me :D I'm happy everybody enjoys NastyBastard!Robotnik. Take that, SEGA! Source of Amy's trouble is gonna get revealed in the next level, so only a couple chappies from now. :)

**St. Noof: **Aww, you know me, no chappie without references ever, the older the better. ;) Oh, and yeah, found that article, thanks - hope to get up to fix it soon, but document manager hates me...T.T A penpal from the US? Anyone from ffnet? No idea how much work uni's gonna be when it starts soon, tho...

**petite-dreamer:** There's a third one coming out? Seriously? Y'know, Toy Story always impressed me because it is still the ONLY movie I can think of where the second part is _exactly _as good as the first. In sequels like Ice Age and Shrek the gags are usually good but the story lacks just a little...heh, now I gotta go research that movie, thanks for the tipp! :D And nope, once again your (E)razor -sharp mind (gets bricked for even worse pun) is busy dissecting my foreshadowing - honestly, can I get nothing past you? XD The crossover is on its way, expect the first chappie in your docX inbox in about two weeks! :D

**The Conflicted Writer: **Heh, thanks for still reviewing even if you are short on time! and as for the audio stuff: actually, yes. I would like to be part of it. Not Shahra nor the narrator, tho, but there's another part coming up I'd like to speak. ;)

**star's dreams: **Great you liked Evil!Robotnik, thanks! :)

**FantomoDrako: **Heh, I'm happy to see how many fans not only Robotnik but also Metal Sonic and Robo Knux have - show your support for the dark side! :D

**DC111: **Weell, the concept is easy: If I want to really drive a point home how [adjective] something is, I generally think of the most [adjective] thing I can imagine - icy = igloo, North Pole, Blizzard; spicy = Chili Dogs, Tabasco Sauce, That R-rated Video Mom Found Under Your Bed, and then I use that in an comparison or a personification. Comedian Rule #1337: Exxageration is funny! ;) I'm sure you can find examples of that technique littered throughout my fics. Thanks lots though fo reviewing even if you are tired - I really appreciate it. :)

**Luigifan1: **(innocent look) Why? What's so bad about 'Life...'? It's not like anybody _dies, _right? Oh, wait. Te-he. But he seriously is cuter. Nothing disturbed at all about that, either. As for Robotnik, he might have saved Shadow, but only to traumatize the poor, little, innocent, gun-toting maniac that he was an adroid in the very next game! Nope, no SEGA-softie Robotnik for me. :P Using the TARDIS would get you chased around by cats toting syringes, tho...but you can drop by my DoctorWho/Sonic -crossover which will be up soon instead, tells you all about TARDISes! ;) (bricked for shameless plug)

**amyfan4ever: **Nope, Buttnik's staying at the Palace. If I had to wobble his bulk through a level, the updates would be even slower. :P And heh, if you liked Amy in chap22, you're gonna LOVE her in this one...;) Thanks for commenting!

**Ri2: **Amy's hammer skills and troubles will be explained...uhh, maybe three chappies from now? Maybe four? And they _might _have teamed up, but I think the suggestion often came from the doc himself. This is the first time Sonic ever had to admit to his team that they would need his help. Also, this is my way of saying that Robotnik is Sonic's_ mortal enemy _and NOT his 'rival' as the booklets are trying to convince me. Shahra throwing up is probably much more psychological than physiological, if you ask me. :P Sonic was asleep through the entire scene, tho. If I was an inventor, I'd name all my creations Egg Random, too. ;)

**SexyShadowGirl: **Heh, yeah, I loved Netraptor's most recent one! Shame Mecha and RK didn't appear, tho...and Toy Story FTW, of course. :D Glad that you like the dialogue so much and thanks for the nice review!

**whosezicantreadfanfictions: **NEXT CHAPTER HERE KTHXBYE ;)

**CerberAsta: **(blushes) Thanks! And yup, Greek mythology is pretty cool. Would you ever look the same way at swans again, I ask? XD

**Tutis 75:** Happy to have you aboard again and thanks for the comment!

**Sonic Warrior: **Read chapter 2? I do enjoy either one of them dead, tho...(also see profile :P)

**Ngandu the Croc: **Heh, if you liked Amy and her hammer the last time, you're gonna love what's up next...;) And heh, I didn't even notice how grim that chapter was in retrospect - but glad you liked Evil!Robotnik. :D Let's see whether all can still end well with so much trouble brewing, huh? Thanks for reviewing, too! :D

**Chatte d'Ange: **(Shadow of Angel? Been a while since I learned French...;) ) And hey, I have read all my fav books at least three or four times! What Shahra means is that you wouldn't really straight after finishing the last page turn to the beginning and read everything again at once. Meaning, that Tails and Amy should be safe from losing their minds for a good while, at least. ;) LOVE long-rant-review-things, tho, so thanks a bunch!:D

**Chapter 23: Levitated Ruin! ATTACK! **

Tails, Amy and Shahra were screaming. The Egg Carpet was roaring through the sky like a kerosene-powered Valkyrie. And Sonic was mostly working on horrible revenge plans for Robotnik.

"I – I am sliding off!" Tails gasped in terror. Their square contraption was still ascending and about to break cloud cover and all three Mobians were hanging on for dear life by lying flat on their bellies and gripping onto the front edge with all of their strength while air was pummelling their faces and bodies.

It just so happened that when it came to strength, Tails had drawn the shortest straw of the trio.

"Just…just a little while longer…TAILS!" Sonic had just managed to sneak a look at his kid brother against the insane velocity that was threatening to tear him off the board, but was just in time to see the fox finally lose his battle against the air stream and being whisked into the sky. Emerald eyes widened in horror.

"NO!"

"Sonic! The Flying Fortress!" Amy's cry was barely audible over the battering winds but words weren't necessary.

They had arrived.

Below them, the home of the Gargoyles spread out in all its glory. The Rukh, a platform shaped in the image of a giant floating sting ray made from stone, odd skeletal wing pairs mounted onto the sides of its 'tail'. It was also mind-bogglingly _huge, _measuring at least a mile from left fin tip to right and even more from the long, thin tail end to the snout. The clouds were just below them and the landscape on the ground far beyond and oddly flat, making the whole image seem even more surreal in the reddish glare of the sun. Something this big shouldn't be _able_ to fly.

_Of course, tell that to the guy who lives on Angel Island. _

On top of it were cemented roads and ruins of ancient buildings, but Sonic wasn't too good at making out details at the moment on account of just having seen his best friend tumble into his potential death if he didn't make it to solid ground soon enough.

"I…I think this rocket is going to explode soon," Amy pressed on, the Egg Carpet suddenly steering exceedingly shakier. "Maybe we should-"

The rest of her sentence was cut off as Sonic took her hand and whirled both of them into the sky.

"_Sonic!_" Amy shrieked as gravity hungrily snatched at the hedgehog pair and they started falling toward the Rukh, just in time for them to see the Egg Carpet explode in a brilliant flame above them. "_What are you doing we're gonna diHURGH_!"

"Hey there, Tails!" Sonic smiled. The two-tail had stopped their rapid descent just in time by grabbing Sonic's hand as they would have soared past him. The blue hedgehog of course had tightened his hold on Amy's hand in turn, so that now there was a chain of Mobians dangling thousands of feet from the ground, with Sonic in the middle and Tails suspending them in thin air.

"Sonic! Don't – don't let go! Please!" Amy shouted, now clinging onto Sonic's arm with both hands in a screw-like grip. The blue hedgehog shot her a surprised look.

"Of course I won't, Amy. We're safe! Tails, can you land us on the edge of that thing?" He asked, nodding toward the tail end of the giant ray platform not too far away. The fox nodded and began whirling his tails even faster, the group slowly coming closer to their destination despite the winds at this altitude.

"This…this was insane! Sonic, what were you thinking?!" Amy still appeared far from relaxed.

"What? The carpet thing was about to explode. Tails had to be somewhere below us. So was our destination. Also, Tails is _very_ good at catching me when I fall to my death. The math was simple," Sonic replied, surprised.

"The 'math' was _insane_!"

"But Amy-!"

"_Insane_!"

_Mental Note: Oh, brother. _

"Guys, get ready to drop!" Tails called, finally letting the two hedgehogs down onto the platform. They dropped onto the end of the 'tail' tip, and slowly uprighted themselves to stare at the city-like buildings in the distance where the tail broadened into the rhombus-shaped body of the Rukh.

Amy dusted her Arabian Nights outfit off with a 'hmmph!' in Sonic's direction while Tails landed beside them. The fox kit cocked his head.

"Hey, where's actually Shahra?"

"Fainted about two seconds after the carpet blasted off." Sonic sighed. "I wish this wasn't so hard for her."

"Hard for _her_?! You pushed _me_ off an _exploding-!" _Amy started again and Sonic briefly wished it wasn't _only _Shahra that had fainted.

"Okay, guys, here we go!" he called instead, giving both his younger friends a bright smile and at least silencing Amy. "We've got to rescue Knuckles, find Sindbad, and collect five more World Rings. We'll be done by tea time, right?"

"Sure, Sonic." Tails laughed. "Those Gargoyles won't know what hit them."

"But I do. My Piko Piko hammer," Amy smirked, summoning the red mallet out of thin air to hold it in her hand as effortlessly if it was an inflatable toy. As it was his habit on these occasions, Sonic took a cautious step backwards.

"Sure, Amy. And, uh, have I mentioned your spines looks great today?"

"Why thank you, Sonic!" Amy gave him a surprised pleased smile, all irritation of earlier forgotten. "So nice of you to say! But we should get going now, right?"

"Sure. You lead the way," Sonic gestured forwards and the pink hedgehog strode on cheerfully, the hammer casually swinging in her grasp.

Tails gave Sonic a look.

"She's going to be a greater danger than all of the gargoyles put together, huh?"

Sonic returned the glance. "You _wonder_ why I run?"

xxx

The path on the fortress' tail was perhaps three metres wide and the ground almost eerily unmoving beneath their feet, as if they weren't flying somewhere near the stratosphere. Sonic broke into an easy run immediately, his soft sneakers flying over the bluish stone underneath his feet. In his mind, he could feel Shahra stirring to life again, the genie mentally staggering against the walls of his skull.

"_Oh…oh god…" _

_Hey, Shahra! Among the conscious and living again? No worries, the carpet ride is over! _

"_I…I think I am going to be sick again." _

_Uhm…NOT in my brain, please. Go outside, okay? _Sonic thought frantically, just starting to get the teensiest bit worried about this whole mind-thing.This was 'mental' in the literal sense.

With a poof of purple smoke, Shahra appeared obediently beside him, ignoring Amy's frown and looking around.

"Levitated Ruin – the floating halls of the dead…" she murmured, breathing in deeply to calm her spiritual stomach. Then the breeze suddenly stiffened and she shot a warning look at Sonic. "The wind speed here is incredible – be careful, Sonic!"

The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes. "Being afraid of the _wind?_ Listen, if you want to travel with us, bottle girl, you better-"

Then the wind hit them in the face and all Mobians were suddenly blasted off their feet and rolling over backwards like tumbleweeds in some sort of western cartoon.

"What the-?!" Sonic's eyes were wide as he struggled to regain some control over his body, his fingers clawing uselessly at slick stones that had been polished flawlessly smooth by centuries of gales.

"It's no use!" Tails shrieked over the wind at his flabberghasted companions while the trio was getting ever closer to the edge, "Amy! _Use your hammer_!"

"My…oh, right!" Jade eyes narrowed in determination as the hedgehog understood what the young fox' intellect had worked out. With a grunt of exertion, the Pikopiko hammer struck the ground so hard, half the head embedded itself in the stone. "Hold on!"

Tails immediately grasped for Amy's hand, her other closed fast around the hilt of her weapon. With his other paw, he barely managed to grab Sonic's leg before his older brother would have gone straight over the edge. For a few tense seconds, the wind howled at them as if it had sensed that its victims had saved themselves…and then it abruptly stopped. The Mobians breathed a collective sigh of relief and slowly climbed to their feet again. Sonic shook his rustling quills.

"Wow. Talk about a stormy welcome. Good work, though, guys. Let's do that if the wind picks up again, that was a pretty cool manoeuvre by you two." He gave both his friends an appreciative grin and the faces of Amy and Tails once more lit up in the utterly blissful way that always made Sonic feel just a tiny bit uncomfortable knowing how much power he wielded over their emotions.

Tails looked around. "Sure. Where's Shahra now?"

"Gone with the wind, I hope," Amy grumbled, but at that, the genie already came floating toward them.

"Oh, thank god you're alright!"

"Yeah, no thanks to you, genie," Amy said pointedly, yanking her hammer out of the ground.

Sonic sighed. "Amy. We're a _team_. Now give it a re-"

"My sincerest apologies, little hedgehog girl," Shahra bowed with both hands clasped in front of her face. "In the future, I will give my warning earlier, so you may still have time to heed it after you are done arguing with me."

So saying she bowed again and then floated in front of them, Amy staring at her gaping like an outraged goldfish while both Tails and Sonic had trouble to stop snickering but had the good sense not to rile up the pink hedgehog further.

"Right," Sonic said as they all fell into an easy jog again, prepared to grab onto each other (and Amy's hammer) in case the wind would start up once more. "Let's see what else this fortress can throw at us, huh?"

It was, of course, at this point that the storm picked up and an entire pillar was hurled at them.

xxx

"No more comments, Sonic? Please?" Tails asked timidly after they were done crouching on the ground while building debris had soared over their heads. The blue hedgehog nodded grimly.

"Yeah. Now we better use the time until the wind picks up again for running." The three Mobians took off much faster and more determined than before, aware now that every second they spent up here could be their last. As they rushed over the catwalk in the clouds, another giant stone sting ray Rukh-thing floated past the one they were currently running on. The gargoyles had to live on an entire fleet.

Sonic, Tails and Amy quickly made their way past the skeletal wings on both sides of the tail and felt their confidence rising as the tail slowly thickened on both sides, giving them more range to maneovre and run side by side. They passed the first signs of the beginning of ruins, broken stone arcs rising high to their left and right.

Amy pointed on ahead.

"Guys! There's the first gargoyles!"

"What?" Shahra asked, perplexed. "But-"

The two stone creatures were sitting on pedestals at the sides of their path, not moving yet. Sonic didn't hesitate for a second though, hurling himself at Knuckles' captors while he saw out of the corner of his eye Amy's hammer flying beside him. Both hedgehog and mallet collided simultaneously with their targets, shattering them to pieces. Sonic uncurled to land gracefully on his feet again while Amy had charged into the fray right after her hammer, catching it in its spinning movement with practiced skill to land right next to her hero.

"Nice work, Amy! High five!"

"Oh Sonikku, we're fantastic!"

"…but these were just harmless stone statues. Not gargoyles at all," Shahra said, giving the hedgehogs currently busy with a victory dance an odd look. Tails had to chuckle at the picture.

"Nevermind. As long as they're having fun."

"If you say so, Envoy."

"Hey, guys! Coast is clear, let's continue!" Sonic called out and the fox gave the genie one last small smile before all of them rushed on. To Sonic's delight (and Shahra's horror), there was suddenly an abundance of speeding pads around and the few dangerous henchmen of Erazor that were there (the ones that couldn't only flail and look around, but actually do both _simultaneously) _didn't see much apart from some neon-coloured blurs shooting past. (And one pink blur crashing accidentally into a wall. As it turned out, Amy didn't have much experience in terms of speeding pads, since Team Rose never used them on account of Big. Sonic and Tails, both of course seasoned experts, spent a very entertaining half an hour trying to teach Amy the basics of Not Shooting Off Cliffs, which had more or less satisfying results. Speeding pads were a world of their own and when blue hedgehog and fox at one point started blathering about something they called 'Jump vs Run' techniques and then expanded onto different models of the things, comparing Friction, Acceleration and Death-Factor, and eventually sentences started with nostalgia-glistening eyes and phrases like 'And remember, that old V.1.1 model in Emerald Hill Zone-' it was only Amy's hollered "OY! World to save, remember?!" that brought the males back on track).

All in all, the four adventurers had been travelling without any incident at all, right until suddenly, the Rukh ended and they were rushing into the sky headfirst.

"JUMP!" Sonic shouted but the next sting ray was too far in front of them to ever hope to reach it. Tails already tensed to grab onto his friends, but he knew that even that would be pointless. He would never be able to fly all the way to the next part of the Levitated Ruin…

And then the falling suddenly stopped. The trio still clinging together was for some reason suspended in mid air, encircled by a flying hoola-hoop loop made from stone.

They looked at each other.

"Okay, what the hell is th-?" Amy began, but the girl hedgehog was rather rudely cut off as the thing suddenly _contracted_ and all of them were shot out of it with cannon-like force to land right on the tail end of the second Rukh. The ensuing fur pile took a while to crawl apart.

"What was _that_?!" Tails finally asked, staring back at the weird contraption floating behind them in the sky serenely.

"It's a plot hole," Shahra ventured, trying in vain to get her wind-ruffled hair back into its question-mark shape.

"A plot hole. Of course. Because that makes so much sense," Amy dead-panned, annoyed because she had dropped her hammer and had already difficulty summoning a second one.

"Oh, but it does make sense," Shahra insisted. "Because Erazor has been carving up the stories, these start to appear. They are round, and if a character falls into them, they can get transported to another place in the story where they logically could not appear. It is quite simple."

"Plot holes go around blasting characters out of them?" Tails asked, sounding slightly disturbed.

"Yes, Envoy. Remember the Mary Sues from the previous chapter, Dinosaur Valley? They are always a sure sign that there will be plot holes around." The genie nodded sagely.

"Riiiight. Moving along…" Sonic pulled his friends to their feet, not even trying to understand what Shahra was talking about some of the time.

The new flying sting ray fossil they had landed on appeared much the same as the first – including the sudden flying pillars that soared towards them and clipped the top of Sonic's skull, knocking him out cold instantly.

xxx

"Aughh…somebody get me a Chaos Aspirin or something…" the blue hedgehog groaned about ten minutes later, looking into the concerned faces of Tails, Amy and Shahra. "What was that? I've got a mondo headache…"

"A, uh, pillar came and knocked you down," the fox explained. "Really, none of us saw it coming."

"Yeah, but you looked terribly _heroic _battling against it with no weapon but your head," Amy purred, eyes shining while Sonic inwardly thought the pain had just gotten worse. Grumbling, he climbed to his feet.

"Pillars! Cacti! To whoever's in charge, this is _not _funny!" he snapped.

Which was, of course, when the winds howled again and the next pillar came.

xxx

"Somebody please explain to me how there's _anything_ on these Rukhs still standing if half of their architecture's on some sort of suicide mission to kill us!" Sonic nimbly dodged the last piece of offensive debris and the storm died down, leaving the Mobians free to run once more. "If we keep going at this rate, we'll end up having to snatch the knife from the priest at the sacrificial altar to save Knuckles."

Spikes shot out of the floor almost impaling an oblivious Amy at this point, had Sonic not yanked her out of the way in time.

"Whoops! I guess I should watch out more for traps – but from up here, the sunset is so pretty!"

_Correction: If we keep going at this rate, I'll end up having a nervous breakdown. _

The second flying platform had more ruins still standing atop it, blocking out the sun and leaving the Mobians to run in the twilight where the holes in the floor containing the spike traps were hard to see. In front of them opened a kind of court yard, though, the ground actual earth instead of stone, which hopefully wouldn't prove any kind of danger. The walls on their sides weren't too high and the inside was filled with a playground Sonic the Hedgehog-style – grinding rails, jumping platforms and _lots _of monster puppets to bounce from. Sonic and Tails whooped, taking to the air and dashing in between enemies and obstacles like particularly happy flipper balls, Sonic landing gracefully after the last minion of Erazor's had been defeated.

"Way to go, Sonic!" Shahra cheered and the blue hedgehog gave a slight bow, loving the attention as always.

"Hey, those guys were no sweat." He grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. (Amy biting the handle of her hammer in the background went largely unnoticed except by Tails, who valued his life too much too care).

"Look, they've even got plants up here!" the fox kit pointed out instead as the quartet was racing around a large dead tree planted at the further end of the courtyard, naked branches grasping for the sky. "These ruins must be old…"

Sonic had already passed through the thin, arched gate that led out of the walled yard and stopped as they had reached the end of yet another platform. More than fifty meters below them floated another one, its skeletal wings beating slowly as it glided majestically through the clouds.

Sonic rubbed his chin.

"Maybe we should go down here."

Shahra eyed the huge drop doubtfully. "Maybe, but first we have to think about how we can safely-"

It was then, of course, that Sonic simply leapt off the edge.

The last thing Amy and Tails heard were an optimistic "Look out belooooooow….!" and, a lot shriller, the fading cries of the genie.

Amy raised an eye ridge at the fox. "She really doesn't learn, does she?"

Tails shook his head sympathetically. "Nope."

"Pah. Genies." Amy wrinkled her nose before leaping into the sky herself fearlessly, Tails catching her for a safe descent. The kit knew the pink hedgehog might have the same habit of jumping into dangerous situations like his brother, but what she did lack were the safe landing skills.

Sonic again broke his fall by spin-dashing, rolling onto his feet with practiced skill. Looking at the third platform stretching out before them, he gave an appreciative whistle. "Man, this Sindbad must really be someone special to be worth so much trouble."

Shahra nodded, even if the genie at the moment had some trouble herself focusing on any solid objects.

"Of…of course," she mumbled, "He's one of this world's heroes."

"Heroes have a habit of getting noticed," Sonic mused. "I wonder whether we find Knuckles or him first."

Red-white sneakers entered his field of vision as Tails fell out of the sky with Amy in tow. "Here we are! Time to head on," the fox kit piped up cheerfully, rousing the older Mobian from his pondering.

Ahead of them now loomed a kind of citadel-like tower, a narrow, high-domed corridor leading up to it. It was filled with tall stone pillars upon which more purple henchmen perched, soon to be ex-henchmen. In fact, Sonic was already starting to get slightly bored when they entered the circular main tower, perhaps ten metres in diameter and built from greenish stone. There were no storeys beside the ground floor so that you could see all the way to the ceiling, a few windows here and there letting in the evening light. The only obstacles in there seemed to be three stone statues and two empty pedestals, but the door on the other side from them was barred by a wall of black stone. Sonic stepped inside, frowning.

"Huh. Maybe we have to find another-"

A metal grille came down behind them with a THUD!

"What was that?!" Amy twisted around, surprised. Sonic grinned.

"A sign things are about to get _interesting…" _

"Hey! That stone statue just moved!" Tails cried, pointing at the left of the three creatures carved from rock. The three true gargoyles took that as the signal to beat their wings and give an ear-piercing battle screech.

"Finally, some action!" Sonic called, moving into a fighting stance. The only thing that bugged him was that there was still no sign of Knuckles, but he had been waiting to get even with these cowardly kidnappers for a long time…

The gargoyle in the middle flexed its muscular arms that looked too long and disproportionate for its body to make for a swipe at Sonic which the hedgehog dodged nimbly. He noticed the strange grey creatures didn't even have legs, their torsos ending in a short, snake-like tail which made them, along with their reptilian faces look ever more creepy and alien. They had some 'decorations' of sorts, wristbands and belts made from sand-coloured stone but which didn't nearly stand out as much as their razor-sharp claws. Undaunted, Sonic curled to deliver a devastating homing attack, but the gargoyle merely closed its wings in front of its body and the hedgehog was sent flying onto his back, repelled harmlessly.

"Right, if that's the way you wanna play it-" Sonic smirked, leaping back onto his feet. Behind the monster that was currently attacking him, the blue hedgehog could see that Tails was already making progress – the two-tail had cleverly placed himself between two of their enemies, then shot into the air when one made a slash at him, leaving the gargoyle behind him to receive the blow. The creature howled in fury at the three gashes across its chest.

"Way past cool, Tails!" Sonic cheered and made to engage his own enemy again. He frowned, when the gargoyle suddenly began to spin around its own axis really, really fast then threw out his arms –

"_NO! Sonic!" _

"SONIC!"

What? The hero of Mobius wanted to ask, not understanding why both Shahra and Tails suddenly sounded so shocked, but for some reason, he couldn't speak. Sonic wanted to turn around, but then noticed he couldn't move, either. And he felt…_cold…! _

"Amy! They've turned him to into a statue!" Tails shrieked, his voice teetering on the edge of panic. Sonic's eyes would have widened at the sudden realization of what had happened, had he been able to move a single muscle.

_Shahra! Help me! _he wailed inside his own mind, suddenly feeling horribly defenceless.

"_If you get turned to stone, shake the Wii remote to-"_

_WHAT?! _

"_I'm…I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that-" _his genie stammered and if Sonic's heart hadn't already been petrified it would have stopped right now as the gargoyle's massive claw was rushing straight toward his open eyes.

Behind him, a soft voice said "You better don't."

Now, Gargoylian, as you may have noticed, is not the most sophisticated of languages. It doesn't have to be. It consists of a series of howls, grinding noises and screeches, designed mostly to brag about how much weird liquid came out of whatever soft, furry creature you happened to shred today and how you were _sure _yours had screamed louder than everyone else's. As you can gather, it is not easy therefore to translate it into English, but for the screeches of the following, rather violent passage I think the translations

"PINK THING TERROR!"

and

"THE PAIN! THE TERRIBLE PAIN!"

as well as

"HELP! OH GODS PLEASE MERCY! _HELP!" _

are quite accurate.

Even Sonic in his current state couldn't help but feel the slightest smidgen of pity for the hapless stone creatures, despite the fact they had just tried to kill him. As it was, Amy was tearing through the tower like an angel from hell, her mallet crushing wings, stone bones and claws mercilessly under its head. The last gargoyle with only a stump for an arm anymore tried to crawl away from the advancing pink-furred goddess of destruction, horror on its face.

"ScreechhowlhowlSCREECH-!" (Translation: "Never put claw on soft thingies again I PROMI-!")

"_You tried to hurt my SONIKKU_!" Amy screamed like a harpy whose chicks have been murdered, lifting her hammer over her head in both hands and brought it down on the terrified gargoyle's face with the force of a comet. The creature exploded into a rain of splinters, the biggest of them still smaller than the finest quill of a hedgehog.

The moment the creature died, the spell on Sonic broke, but since the hedgehog was so stunned, it hardly made a difference. Tails _slowly _edged behind his hero.

"Sonic? I'm scared."

The blue hedgehog nodded, just a tad bit more pale. "Yeah. Dark Story Path Shadow is _nothing _in comparison."

"Sonikku, are you alright?" The rose-coloured girl asked, bounding over to the two male Mobians with her hammer behind her back. Her face showed nothing but honest concern where only five seconds ago there had been the murderous rage of some sort of pink Leviathan.

"Yeah. Sure. Thanks. Uhm."

"Great! Let's move on," Amy smiled, but emerald eyes had suddenly locked onto something behind her.

"There's another one!" Sonic called, pointing up at the ceiling above the newly opened door where a previously unnoticed gargoyle had sat as its brethren had met their maker. Now that it had been discovered, it gave a scared screech and dropped down to swoop out of the door, escaping into the sunlight outside.

"What?! You're not gonna get away!" The blue hedgehog called, he and his companions immediately starting to pursue. They dashed out the tower but had to stop short when only a few metres in front of them the Rukh ended and the gargoyle escaped into the sky.

"Dammit!" Sonic snarled, clenching his fist. Shahra appeared, shaking her head and pointing after the gargoyle.

"No, no! Go after him!"

"Uh, genie? I know you're not the sharpest spoon in the drawer and all, but even you should know that we can't walk on air," Amy dead-panned, indicating the sheer drop that awaited them.

"In this case you can! This is a chasing scene!" The genie argued, indicating with growing exasperation the fleeing gargoyle. "You've got to go after him for the story to go on!"

Amy frowned. "But-"

"Sonic!" Shahra instead focused on her Master. "You've got to trust me. Please!"

The hero of Mobius looked at the edge of the platform. If he hesitated for a moment, he didn't show it, merely giving Shahra the slightest of smiles before dashing straight into the white of sky.

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_

Yatta! Cookies for everyone who can find all the lines in there that are actual game dialogue. Shahra and Sonic chat quite a bit during the level. :P Of course, _I _never listened to her warnings, either...XD (What? I'm damaged goods ever since Navi and "LISTEN!"...)

Also, conventions just rule. There's nothing quite like the feeling of ruling the gamers' room by killing everybody as Super Sonic in SSB Brawl, if you ask me. ;)

If you read, please review? :D


	24. High And Broken Third World Ring

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game****, I wouldn't still be writing disclaimers – worse, I wouldn't be re-using them. :P **

**Porecomesis: **A killer landscape…well, I recently fell into a pond in someone's garden, does that count? XD And aaaah, the Shadow question. ;) Well, you're gonna hate me for the cliffie of this one…^^ As for a career in writing, yes, I'd love to. I'm considering trying to become a journalist next to going to uni during daytime.

**petite-dreamer: **Hah, not just the shaking of the Wiimote! Sonic and Shahra are virtually talking your _ears_ off while you're running through the level! :P And believe me, it doesn't get any better when you do it for the umpteenth time…XD And phew, for once I can keep my secrets. Not much foreshadowing this chappie, either, so I'm fairly safe, I guess. :P

**St. Noof: **Believe me, 'hate' is too weak a word to describe my feelings for this level…music's okay, though. ;) Lemme see whether I can fix that mistake – thanks for the help!

**MegaHog14: **Sonic Brawlers rule.^^ Hope you like the second part of your fav level as well!

**FantomoDrako: **(blushes) thanks! Hahah, I'm always happy to please the classic fans – considering _I _never made it past the 4th level in Sonic the Hedgehog that's the least I can do. ;)

**star's dreams: **(like the name! :D) Heh, I had to grin at your review, glad you liked it.

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Going to a con? Awesome! How was it? Glad you liked my version of Amy, somehow I can't imagine that someone who couldn't kick butt somewhere would ever be crazy about Sonic. :P Thanks for your review, and yes, inserting the Wii line there was fun. XD

**Asher Tye: **How Sonic knows about Shadow's gaming fame…weeeell, at least in this fic I am officially allowed to have plotholes. ;) Loved your summary of Sonic's tactic. (blushes) Thanks so much for that comment!

**A Reserved Deduction: **Definitely. "Do Not Get Amy Mad" is listed in most survival guides, methinks. Sonic's love for speeding pads is probably only paralleled by the one he harbours for his sneakers. ;) Thanks for the long review!

**Chatte D'Ange: **Ah, that explains the name, you used the female form! :D Don't talk to me about accents, when I speak English, mine is totally screwy, too.;) Thanks for the help with the wording, btw! Hope you like the new chappie as well…

**Ri2: **Hahahah, that first sentence in your review is worth quoting elsewhere! XD How Shahra knew what a Wiimote is? Uhm…plothole! ;)

**Tutis 75:** Believe me, even _I_ couldn't write that scene without cringing in pity. ;) Thanks for continuing to comment! :D

**CerberAsta: **Of course. Shahra is actually spouting my opinion at times – without knowing the old, how can we make new? ;) I am also trying to keep the balance between characters, so I'm glad you approve! Thanks for the review.

**Avitala: **Glad you like it. Have fun with this one, too!

**YumeTakato: **Wow, you're one of my oldest reviewers…I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter, thanks!

**DgShadowChocolate: **Sorry. My humour is often not very PC, but I do try to make fun of everything and not discriminate against any group in particular – well, except for Chris fans. They're fair game. :P Glad you still liked the chapter!

**whosezicantreadfanfictions? **(a person not up-to-date with current events, apparently…) Thanks for the review, hope your monitor survived.^^

**Ngandu the Croc: **WOW, mega-review again, thanks! And heh, no worries, I love SonicxTails cooperation, their relationship is too adorable not to get spotlight. Also glad to find a fellow Super Sonic supporter. XD Have fun with the next chappie!

**The Conflicted Writer: **The character still to show up is another female of the canon cast. But it'll be a while, haven't written her entrance yet. How'd the talking go? I'm happy to hear you like the emphasis on the storybook elements, I like writing them a lot. :D

**Blue Mage Quartet: **Hahah, glad you found the carpet math funny! XD I'm very happy also that you tell me the descriptions were up to scratch, feedback is very important to me, thanks! As always, I'll try to get around to your stories, too, but now uni has just started in earnest and for some reason people now want me to learn Indonesian (?!). I'll try to find the time!

**Mr. Anonymous: **Hmm, some theory you have there. I can already tell you're gonna HATE the cliffie at the end of this chapter…:P As for Sheherazade – it's not a problem for me, in my native language there is never any question how to pronounce words! English is great, but trying to pronounce foreign words in it is a (censored by 4Kids) ;)

**Chapter 24: High And Broken –**** Third World Ring **

"No! Sonic, you're gonna fall-!" Amy shrieked as her most important hedgehog in the world dashed straight into his death. And then she fell silent. And stared.

Sonic had been chasing after the last gargoyle from the tower, Shahra reassuring him that he somehow would be able to tread on thin air when the stone monster took flight from the Rukh they were currently standing on – and she had been right. The moment Sonic's feet left the solid ground, a shining road appeared, like a gleaming band trailed through the air by the gargoyle. The hero of Mobius laughed in surprise at first, but didn't slow down, only accelerating when he was sure the footing underneath was safe enough.

_Wow, Shahra, this is fantastic!_

"Yes, isn't it?" The genie asked, pleased that her Master approved of the recent development. "This is the obligatory high-speed chase, so I was sure the story would enable us to follow. After him, Sonic!" she cheered him on.

"Sonic! Wait up!" Tails called out behind him, his two appendages whirling as the two-tail tried to catch up to his blue hero when he hadn't dashed off as fast as Sonic.

"And I'm warning you, genie, if this bridge collapses under me, I have a bottle with your name on it!" Amy called, the pink hedgehog barely able to spare the breath. Amy could run as fast as Knuckles, but Sonic and Tails still had a bit of an edge over her in terms of speed. Still, the gargoyle wasn't entering any Extreme Gear tournaments soon, either, and so there wasn't that much distance between the four pursuers and their prey. The two younger Mobians caught up to Sonic soon enough, only a couple metres now in between them and the fleeing stone creature. The shining road meanwhile was taking them on a rollercoaster ride through the sky, reminiscent in its surreality either of another yellow road made from bricks, _or_ a certain goddamned final Mario Kart course which _also_ was prone to drive people insane.

"Right," Sonic now grinned as if he'd just received three shining red shells. "Time to catch the birdie…" his muscles tensed as he prepared to boost forward just a little, planning to jump and drop onto the back of the stone creature to ram his quills into its shoulders – right before Shahra suddenly floated in front of him shaking her head wildly.

"No, Sonic, don't!"

"Huh? Why?" the blue hedgehog frowned. He was still able to breathe normally while talking, even if Tails and Amy by now had to use all their air to keep running, the mismatched quintet still racing through the clouds while the desperate gargoyle was flying wild curves and ups-and-downs, leading them on a chase under, over, and past more than one floating Rukh.

"Uh…" Shahra gestured a bit helplessly as she tried to explain it. "You understood that this road is here because the story demands a chasing scene, right?"

"_I'd _say it's here because the author sounds a bit desperate, but yeah, I get you," Sonic replied easily. "So what's the problem?"

"Well, the thing is, Sonic, the road is _only _here because it's necessary for the chasing scene. Now, if you were to catch the gargoyle and the chasing would _stop…_"

She let the sentence trail off as Sonic had paled just a little.

"Right. I getcha. So, I only run and _pretend _to try to catch it until we're on nice, solid ground again, yeah?"

"Exactly!" Shahra smiled at him as if he was her star pupil and Sonic once more wondered how long exactly it would be until he'd start seeing white rabbits with frog coats and giant fobwatches if things continued like this.

"There! The next Rukh!" Tails called out from behind him, and Sonic leapt in the same instant – the yellow road had ended just above another tail tip and the fleeing gargoyle might have been trying to find some back-up on the new platform – but its attempt was cut short as Sonic leapt and hit it square in the back, not killing it, but knocking it out cold against the rock floor.

"Piece of cake," Sonic grinned and dusted off his hands, just a bit enjoying the admiring stare of Amy. Tails looked a bit worried.

"Have you seen how many Rukhs there were?" he wondered. "How are we ever gonna find the ones Knuckles or that Sindbad are on?"

"Easy, li'l buddy. Take them on one by one," Sonic winked. "Also, when in doubt, listen for the yelling. Ol' Knucklehead should be pretty ticked by now…"

They started off again, the sun now so low in the sky it was blinding them. More pillars whirled over their heads, the Mobians now quick enough to dodge them.

Another fire-spewing monster puppet and a few of its brethren tried to bar their way, but Sonic wouldn't have any of it. Whirling into the air with the grace of a wild cheetah in the moment of the kill, the blue hedgehog hit the unfortunate creature head on, bouncing away laughing to finish his work. Their path on the platform was lined with half-broken columns and structures of ruins, which Sonic used with the skill of a circus artist in a lethal performance. Vertical walls became footholds for fractions of seconds, heads of henchmen transformed into trampolines and the hero of Mobius leapt from pillar tip to broken grinding rail with the ease of a wildcat, once more showing gravity _exactly _where it could go stick it.

Behind him, Tails sighed.

Technically, being able to fly was a lotmore useful than Sonic's mere jumping tricks.

But, a small voice told him as he watched his big brother fight in the air, a butt-propeller would simply never look quite as _cool._

"Sonic, it's another citadel!" Amy called out, pointing to the next building after Sonic had defeated the last of the puppets, "Be careful this time so we don't get caught unawares by gargoyles again!" The small tower structure looked exactly like the last one they'd visited, so the warning didn't seem that unreasonable.

"Heh, sure thing," Sonic replied, although by the time he said it, another one of them who had been hiding in the building was already screeching and taking flight as soon as they had entered the little cathedral.

"Let's go after it again!" Tails called, "One of them has to lead us to the prisoners sooner or later!"

"Okay!" Sonic agreed easily, not in the least bit surprised when the gargoyle soared upwards through the tower toward the opening in the roof and another bright orange road appeared behind it. Grinning, he revved up a spin-dash to overcome the almost vertical slope of the steep path, secure in his knowledge that Tails would lift Amy up there in a jiffy. As soon as the road had levelled out upon emerging from the cathedral, they were once more dashing along the highway in the sky. Sonic couldn't resist raising an eyebrow at Shahra.

"Say, this is the same all over again. Your stories aren't very creative, are they?"

The genie shrugged apologetically. "Well, it's not that uncommon that if one type of story idea worked, there will be a sequel. Generally, it will be a bit more boring than the original, but it will also contain more…oh-oh…" Shahra's eyes suddenly widened.

"Contain a bit more what?" Sonic asked, puzzled.

"Explosions! Sequels always contain more _explosions_! DUCK!" Shahra suddenly shrieked and Sonic rolled out of the way just in time to hear the high-pitched whistling noise of a rocket that exploded where he had just been.

"Hey, if you wanna play tag, go do it someplace else!"

"Sonic! The other Rukhs are firing at us!" Tails screamed as he was catching up along the road with Amy. The pink hedgehog looked more than a bit shaken.

"This is the Arabian Nights! It's a fairy tale book! What is wrong with these people, I mean, when did _Snow White_ last have a bazooka?!" she demanded, the trio of Mobians now dodging the incoming missiles left, right and centre while trying to stay on the tail of the fleeing gargoyle.

Sonic shrugged. "Pretty sure this is all Erazor's doing, right?"

Shahra threw him a surprised glance. "Yes…the gargoyles did not use to have weapons other than spears – but how did you know?"

Sonic grinned. "Easy. Even his _rockets_ are purple."

It was then that the path suddenly turned into wild loop-de-loops that Sonic followed with whoops of excitement, the thrill of the world spinning upside down always letting him forget everything for the moment, missiles rushing past his ears and flame burning on his chest or no. Shahra also forgot a lot of things, namely how to hold on to her breakfast.

Briefly, the panicked gargoyle tried to shake them off by flying through the ruins of another fortress, but all three Mobians were quick to dodge the new obstacles and wouldn't be held off.

"_Oh…oh dear…are you still okay, Sonic?" _Shahra asked weakly inside his mind, perhaps a futile attempt to get her reckless Master to slow down a little, but Sonic was happily ignorant.

"Just leave it to me!" he replied, cheerfully disregarding the fact that his friends usually were worried _because _of whatever he was doing at the time.

The road now suddenly curved steeply downward, racing toward and underneath one of the giant floating platforms. The floor above their heads was crudely hewn from black rock, dripping-stone-like protrusions hanging from the ceiling while still missiles were being fired from concealed openings, rushing straight through the road beneath their feet….and the gargoyle was getting away.

"Sonic…we…we are running out of breath…" Amy called out to him, panting, and Sonic looked back to feel a surge of apprehension; the shining path was starting to vanish behind them as they fell back from the gargoyle.

"Come on, guys – you can do it!" the blue hero called out, simultaneously dashing back and grabbing each one of them by the wrist, pulling them along – but the treacherous thing about the crystal road was that it was missing friction and his sneakers wouldn't find enough purchase with the added weight… Sonic could feel his heart clench up in fear for the safety of his friends.

_Shahra, this is starting to look REALLY bad – can't you do something?! _

"_I…there is a source of power around, Sonic, yes, I think I might…" _the geniereplied in his mind, and before he could resist, the blue hedgehog could feel her overtaking his body again, seizing control of his voice to utter words he did not know.

"_SPEED BREAK!" _

xxx

"Mecha-Unit 1?" RoboKnux asked via the private network the two deadliest robots of Robotnik could use to communicate with each other when they did not wish to be overheard.

"Yes?" Metal Sonic answered equally as silently, to the rest of the world still appearing to be engaged in the videogame the three of the Doctor's creations were currently playing.

"I am not certain this is a 'good idea'," RoboKnux said, using the most appropriate expression for his current thoughts his speech databanks suggested.

"There is no reason for apprehension," Metal Sonic replied in his usual emotionless tone. "We have already wreaked destruction, of our biological counterparts there is no trace and we have also finally placed a successful bid for Switzerland. It is appropriate to now engage in the electronic entertainment called 'videogames', may it feature our loathsome copies or not."

"Affirmative," the echidna robot answered, "But…with _it_?"

"According to the game manual, the more players, the more 'fun'." Metal Sonic argued. "And I do not see why playing this 'Sonic R' together with Tails Doll should be reason for you to spout such emotional irrationality."

xxx

_About four walls away..._

It was a bit like turning Super, except Sonic felt as if he was on fire. In a good way. The red-hot energy seemed to shoot out from the flame on his chest to pervade his muscles and limbs, suddenly bringing the world into hyperfocus and increasing his strength tenfold, a single step propelling him far further than before.

Sonic bared teeth in a feral grin.

"Let's do it!"

He took off in a matter of seconds, Tails and Amy flying along behind him. Red sneakers ate up the glowing ground beneath in a rush of adrenaline, velocity and flying limbs. The trio now shot along the path akin a tri-coloured arrow released, and the gargoyle was quickly coming into view. Sonic hit it at the same time with devastating force as they were above solid ground again and the Mobians dropped down onto the stone ramp, gargoyle splinters raining to earth with them.

"Wo-hoo…" the blue hedgehog breathed, exhausted as the fiery energy surge had just left him as well, his two younger friends slowly coming to their senses beside him. Amy clutched at her head, groaning.

"What the…Sonic, what _was_ that?"

"Dunno. Some kind of energy boost from Sharah," the blue hero replied dreamily, revelling in the aftermath a bit.

"What?! Tell that genie she can keep her energy where-!"

"Sonic?" Tails asked, a bit shaken. "You, er, wrecked the gargoyle we wanted to follow."

"Whoops. Overshot it a bit," the older hedgehog sat up again, shaking his head and looking at the rock fragments around them. "Well, seems like we have to find some other way off this place."

They were still below the black belly of one of the sting-ray platforms, but there was also some sort of cat walk stone path suspended a few metres underneath on which they were currently sitting. At the far end, Sonic could make out a raised speeding pad that was aimed at a couple of ivy lianas dangling in a row from the rock ceiling, leading to another perch further up the front.

"_We can probably use the ivy to get across!" _Shahra suggested brightly, and Sonic had to mentally bite his tongue to not reply that yes, and he could also use his nose to breathe, and whether the genie wanted to point out that also. He smiled.

_Good idea, Shahra, but I think I'll just let Tails carry me instead. Hey, what was actually that boost earlier? _

"_Soul fire," _the genie explained, _"There must be another world ring around here. Your soul, damaged as it might be from that arrow, is able to obtain energy from it!" _

"Cool," Sonic whistled. "Hey guys, Shahra just told me there must be another one of those ring-things around here. Keep an eye out, okay?"

"Will do!" Tails gave him a thumbs up. "So, wanna check out what's ahead?"

Words not necessary, the three Mobians merely moved on again, traversing the airy passage by means of flying, jumping and swinging, Sonic only privately wondering whether a starry-eyed Amy was currently busy day-dreaming her very private Tarzan and Jane version. He shuddered.

_WEIRD story, anyway. I mean, two rich Mobian monkey parents losing their baby and he ends up getting raised by some indigenous, primitive human tribe? Yeah, right. As if they wouldn't have eaten the kid as soon as they got their hands on him. _

Another plot-hole cut their combined ponderings short, however, and within seconds, the trio was again suspended in the middle of a stone ring that had caught them in mid-air. Except this one was a _little _bit different.

"Yaaaah! It has teeth! It has flipping _teeth_! Sonic! DO SOMETHING!" Amy panicked, very effectively grabbing onto the blue hedgehog's head in a way that she had her hands over both his eyes.

The stone ring that was now contracting slowly around them indeed had a row of shining incisors set all around its inner side. Something about it suggested a rather incompetent, but nevertheless _hungry _author.

The hero of Mobius struggled to see something.

"Amy! Leggo!"

"Heeya! Take _this_!" Tails shrieked, having gotten hold of his precious screwdriver and ramming it brutally between two teeth, the steel chipping the reddish stone. The plot hole made a sort of odd, very unhappy noise and responded by impulsively spitting all three characters from its grasp into thin air again. Sonic finally wrested his head free of Amy and spotted instantly a sort of handle dangling down where they were flying past. Without thinking, he grabbed it and Tails, who used his free paw to get a hold of Amy.

"Whew. That was clo-" began Sonic, but that was also as far as he came, before the handle suddenly started to shoot away with all three Mobians hanging from it screaming. It appeared to be some sort of flying fox contraption and they were now soaring along the side of the Rukh they had been running under.

Sonic appeared deep in thought. Tails frowned.

"Sonic. Stop it."

"What?" The blue hedgehog asked innocently while air and scenery was rushing past them. Now that the group had somewhat righted itself while waiting for the ride to end, he was still the top-most, hanging onto the handle, while the two-tailed fox was gripping onto his legs and Amy occupied the bottom spot.

Tails twisted his head upwards, his tone a warning. "You're trying to think of some horrid pun about me riding a flying fox. _Don't_."

"Aww," Sonic complained. "Seems like you out_foxed_ me once again, Ta-_aah_! Aaaahh! NOT the claws!" he pleaded as a frustrated kit had chosen that moment to dig his predator claws through his gloves into the blue calves he was clinging to. "I promise not to do it again!" the hedgehog assured him quickly and Tails eased the pressure, chuckling.

"Seems like you're finally getting a bit 'hedgy' around me, Sonic, huh?" he retorted, and Sonic laughed enough to let go of the handle – albeit only because the by now third gargoyle had chosen that moment to fly by below them and another shining road had instantly been drawn from his fleeing tail to make for a safe landing.

"What, _again_?" Amy complained as they dropped down from their air ride to start running again. "How many more can there be?"

"How many sequels did they make of 'The Defurrer'?" Sonic asked listlessly, shrugging in his jog.

Tails immediately started counting on his fingers. "Well, there was The Defurrer Original, The Defurrer Returns, The Defurrer – Now It's Time For the Seal Babies, The Defurrer Part II, The Defurrer VS Hannibal Lector – Silence _This _Lamb, Human!, The Defurrer: Legacy, Girl Defurrer: Pretty In Mink, and The Defurrer Meets Chris Thorndyke - 4Kids Version, but the last one _really _sucked, unless you watch it in Japanese. So, eight in total," the fox kit replied happily.

Amy shot Sonic a sideways glance. "You let him _watch _this stuff?"

"It was a mistake I made _once_ Amy, and four-and-a-half sleepless nights spent at his bedside afterwards convinced me never to do so again," the blue hedgehog muttered, again wondering why on Mobius Tails had to have this absurd penchant for exactly the movies that would lead to excessive appendage-deknotting sessions afterwards. He was pretty sure _he _had never been like that at his age!

"Good work, though, Tails! Without you, we would have been stone ring fodder!" he remembered at this point and gave an encouraging nod to the two-tail who grinned.

"Just a good thing I never go out without my tools, huh?" Tails replied bashfully. It was only the truth. The screwdriver his older brother had given him for his first birthday present ever was his most treasured possession. He even had a habit of referring to it as his 'Sonic screwdriver', even if that usually led to trouble with copyright infringements.

"Didn't that genie say plot holes only transferred characters somewhere else, though?" Amy asked. "We relied on that!"

"Yes, and I'm sorry," Shahra sighed. "It's rare, but occasionally, plot holes can also swallow characters forever. It is a most gruesome death – the death of the _forgotten_," Shahra whispered, and the three Mobians once more exchanged glances, not really understanding what the genie was talking about. In their opinion, if your chewed-up remains rained down onto some city from 10 000 feet in the air, there was only a very little chance the people living there would _ever _forget you.

"Right. This running is taking wayyyy too long," the blue hedgehog stated instead, frowning at the escaping gargoyle dot in the distance. "I think I oughtta try this neat li'l trick again…_Speed Break_!"

The gargoyle never knew what hit it.

xxx

After they arrived on the biggest Rukh platform so far, the three made their way without encountering difficulties until a couple of Erazor's monster puppets materialized in a flash and tried to bar their way. Sonic wanted to ram his head against a wall.

He had fought against a lizard that had a space station sticking up its rear. He yet had to figure out why GUN usually let their robo-beetles fly in those exact formations that were so much fun to homing-attack across. Shadow had also told him that Eggman's latest creation had been some kind of slot machine mecha that was designed to explode when he sat in it.

But, even in comparison to those disasters, _this…_was just sad. Sonic sighed.

The monster puppet continued to spin merrily on the same spot in front of him, demonstrating perhaps that Erazor was a closet-Beyblade fan, or maybe never had gotten over his mom taking away his gyroscopes when he was twelve, but definitely proving that yes, if you _really _want to make your henchmen ineffective, instruct them not to move. Sonic shook his head and stepped around them, not even bothering with a half-hearted spin-dash.

Seriously. If he would ever have to go up against Erazor again, he'd send Cream and Cheese.

Tails looked at the assembly of creatures. "Man…there's just no end to these evil spirits, is there?"

Amy shrugged. "Doesn't seem like it. Even though they're next to useless." As if to demonstrate, she casually swung her hammer while passing one of the puppets, the thing exploding into light the moment she touched it. But then another, brighter flash suddenly blinded them all…

"That's…" Shahra gasped as they beheld the object that had apparently lain hidden in the destroyed monster and was now floating towards them.

"It must be another one of the seven World Rings!" Sonic called out, grinning. "The one you could sense! Way to go, Amy!"

"Ah, 'twas nothing…" the pink girl gave him a smile almost as bright as the glowing, light green ring itself. Sonic grabbed it, at the same time flinching at the already familiar sparks and miniature lightning bolts erupting from the thing.

"_Are you okay_?" Shahra asked worriedly in his head, feeling the pain only indirectly.

Sonic shook himself.

_Yeah, I'm fine…okay…alright. Just touching it makes me feel like I got a whirlpool of emotions spiralling around inside me, though. _

"Hey, Amy! Wanna bet who can destroy more of the remaining monsters? Maybe we can find some more stuff inside them!" Tails called out at that point, recognizing the slightly lost gaze of his older brother correctly for another in-head conversation with Shahra. The pink hedgehog shrugged, but still followed the two-tail, leaving Sonic and the genie be for the moment.

_I can't even imagine what having all seven rings would do to someone, _Sonic mused at this point, unaware of the outside world for a moment. Shahra was a pressing silence in his head, as if waiting for him to continue.

_It might…even open the gates of hell…_Sonic thought, at the same time frowning, not sure why he'd said that. Then, emerald eyes widened as suddenly Shahra appeared next to him in corporeal form, her eyes downcast.

"Sonic…here." She held out a strange, ball-shaped object to him, her demeanour grave.

The blue hedgehog took it curiously, examining it as he couldn't make out what it was, even sniffing at it in a last resort. It looked a bit like something made from bronze-coloured metal had been crushed and squashed into a round shape, folds of golden crumpled sheets lining the exterior like lines of a brain.

"I want you to hold onto this," the genie explained, not looking at him.

"Uh…okay." Sonic regarded her a bit confused. "What is it?"

"If nothing else is able to stop him, this will be our final resort," she said, all at once sounding desperate, but resolute, her fist clenched, but trembling. Sonic thought she was probably referring to Erazor, but couldn't figure for the life of him why this was suddenly causing her such distress.

"Shahra…"

"I cannot use it by myself," the genie said, and Sonic thought she might have added more, had not at this time Amy and Tails returned, arguing loudly whether it counted as a point for Amy if the monster puppet had let itself get crushed by a pillar or not. Sonic quickly stored both ring and mysterious object in his quills, hoping not to have to use either of them if they were upsetting Sharah so.

The henchmen meanwhile appeared to have been guarding another tower, which the three Mobians, reenergized by their find, entered without hesitation. Inside, there were no stone creatures this time, but only a single jumping pad.

"Heh, I missed those!" Tails laughed, propelling himself upwards and bouncing a bit up and down. "C'mon, Sonic, it's just like old times!"

"What you mean, like last week?" Sonic grinned at his little brother, but didn't wait long before he, too, pounced on the red, circular contraption and enjoyed the movement sensation of being tossed into the air. "Hey Amy, up here!"

"Coming, Sonikku!" The pink hedgehog leapt gracefully after her hero, doing a little backflip in the air, glad that her harem pants instead of her red dress prevented her from showing off more than she'd planned to. She landed next to the older hedgehog on a stone ridge on the circular wall of the tower, more jumping pads creating a bouncy path upwards along higher ridges at intervals. Amy couldn't help but smile.

"You know, I think I could get used to do these kinds of adventures with you…"

"Well, glad to hear it!" Sonic replied easily, leaping on ahead. "Whoever's up there first!" he called, but not before squeezing her hand just the tiniest bit.

Amy practically _flew _up the tower.

"Over there!" Shahra called out as soon as they had reached the top level, an opening permitting them access to the flat, circular stone roof. And up here, just a few feet away, Sonic's eyes widened as the Mobians suddenly beheld a giant cage…with a _very _familiar figure inside.

_To be continued…_

_

* * *

_Whooo, we're back on track! :D Hope you liked the second part of Levitated Ruin (after all, you didn't have to play it a felt thousand times and develop a _severe_ hatred against these pillars...) and tell me what you think. ;) Or else I'll send the Defurrer after you.

Please read and review?^^


	25. Rescue Sindbad!

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game, ****I'd have bashed the inventor of those flying pillars over the head with his own creations. **

**Alex Warlorn: **To put it bluntly: No. 1) The main characters from the stories have already been consumed, so it would be very unwise to leave your friends stuck in roles where others have already disappeared. 2) The roles are not very fitting – Knuckles, the world-wise traveller, and Tails the man married to several wives who doesn't have a problem with his servant killing off people….? 3) It's Sonic – you really think he'd go, sit down and ponder whether he should let his friends' bodies continue to be overtaken by foreign memories, just to have a tactical advantage? If you want them as 'Sindbad' and 'Ali Baba', then play the game, if you want to read to about Knuckles, Tails and Amy, read the fanfic. Simple as that.

**Asher Tye: **I think the 'Defurrer' would actually be a horror movie I'd want to watch…XD And yes, the level was *very* annoying. ;) And I had to play the 'Special Mission' for this new chappie, too! Glad you liked the cut scene, tho, and one confrontation coming right up…thanks a bunch for the comment!

**Michigo-Sinsiter: **Weeeeeell, considering I've written more than 100 000 words so far and I _just _updated again…take a guess?

**dr****-fan/mai-lover: **"Bervo"? What on earth...? As for Shahra's powers: It's magic, which she gets from the rings.

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Heh, glad to hear it! Always looking forward to your reviews. :D Aww, I personally could never read depressing fanfics – so the most cruel thing to do to me would actually be write your fic really fluffy to lure me in, then, when I'm hooked, make it a death-and-angst fest extraordinaire. Believe me, it has happened. (rocks in a corner) Thanks for your comment!;)

**Pokelad: **Read on to find out! Thanks for the comment!

**: **You weren't the one who had to play through it a gazillion times for a silly fanfic….XD And yes, the third World Ring was blue – thanks for pointing that out, I only now realized I had forgotten to write it! I'll fix it in the description in this chapter.:)

**FantomoDrako: **Aaaaaand longest review-award for the last chapter goes toooo Fantomo! :D Thanks a bunch. And yes, your surmise about the effect of the constant talking is surprisingly accurate…XD As for whether the 'adventurer of adventurers' manages to distract Amy…well, read on to find out! Sonadow may be my OTP, but in my regular fics it's still canon Sonamy. ^^

**Ri2: **Heheheh, sucking and spinning. XD But of course Tails Doll, I wrote this chappie around Halloween…;) As of now, Mecha and RK have not yet taken over the world, but have been planning to purchase Switzerland for over a couple of chapters so far. ;) Thanks for the review!

**Omicron the IceQueen: **(bows) thank you! :D I'm happy you enjoy the characters' relationship and like the tone of the story – always love to hear what you think. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

**Lupus Silvae: **wow, thanks a lot! :D I'm glad to hear you like the story so far and thanks for the detailed review! I do like my references, yes…;) As for SatsR, I merely loved the concept of being literally in a book. Hope you like the new chapter (and maybe my other stories;) ) as well!

**Dunehazard: **Heheheh, your review made me laugh. I do adore cliffhangers of all sorts too much. ;) Glad you like it, have fun with this one!

**Tutis: **But why, Rainbow Road is awesome! (gets bricked) Well…it's only awesome because it makes everybody else in the room hate you…XD But thanks for the review!

**CerberAsta: **Hmm, interesting theory! Unfortunately will be a COUPLE of chapters until you're proven right or wrong…:P Thanks for your review, hope you enjoy the plot development in the new chapter! :D

**YumeTakato: **Heh, glad to hear it! Hope to have you aboard when this ficcie finishes

**Avitala: **I sure hope it'll be! Thanks for commenting, again!

**Tucker from Blood Gulch: **Woah, easy there, first I need to finish THIS mammoth off! Not to mention 'Life could have been so different'…(shudders) but I'm happy to hear you're enthusiastic about it. Thanks for commenting! :D

**Rebell: **Heh, I wish I could be so lucky where _my _fav stories are concerned...XD Glad you liked the characterization of Robotnik - we're writing for a fandom full of talking animals, we need all the badassery we can get! ;) And yeah, Shahra needs to work on her advice...but I'm happy you enjoyed the story nonetheless, always looking forward to your reviews! :D

**Skyblaze: **(bows) Thank you! :) Hope I get around to Hold On in a minute now that I've finally got some free time - glad you enjoy the adaption, I'm taking special care and pride in making it readable for non-players. ;) Also, I'm happy you liked the Dr. Who reference - gods, I've been waiting way too long to make that silly joke. XD Thanks for your comment!

**lokoforsonic9559:** (any special meaning to the numbers...?) Thanks! :D

**whosezicantreadfanfictions? **I'll be sending your screen a get well soon - card...heh, happy to hear you're starting to write yourself. :) and yes, even the rockets are purple. I checked. And I think I'd like to watch one of them Defurrer movies. XD

**Chapter 25: Rescue Sindbad! **

„Is...is that Sindbad?" Amy asked, voice trembling only ever so little.

The cage they were looking at was about two and a half metres in diameter and about three metres tall. It was round and shaped like an old-fashioned aviary, golden metal bars no thicker than a thumb descending in an intricate pattern from the spike-topped centre of the cage's dome down to the round metal plate that was the floor of the prison. A door with four heavy, green glowing pad-locks at the edges completed the set-up, the reddish evening sunlight and winds at the top of the tower filtering through the bars and bathing the figure inside in their flow.

But of course, to illuminate the inmate's fur, red sunlight was hardly necessary.

"_Knuckles_? Is that really you?" Tails finally managed, his brain having a hard time to process the words 'Last of the Echidnas' and 'Bling-King' in one and the same sentence.

It was undoubtedly the Guardian of Angel Island trapped in the steel cage, but, once again, his attire had changed…considerably.

The echidna now wore a white headcloth, fastened across his brow with a metal band containing two shining rubies. The dread locks to the left of his face were adorned with bronze rings, glistening in the evening light. As for clothing, he'd chosen a light, loose, long white vest, fastened across his waist by a purple fabric belt. It matched his eyes nicely and also contained a weapon called a scimitar, but which was mentally labelled by Sonic again as 'banana sword'. His gloves were now held in place by silver bracelets – the blue hedgehog briefly wondered whether Story-Tails might have gotten his fashion sense from this, or whether Shadow would develop bracelet-envy if he ended up here – that were at least three inches wide and intricately carved. And then, of course, his lego-boots had been replaced by funky gold-topped shoes. _Pointy_ funky gold-topped shoes.

"Knuckles, how…how'd you get here?" Amy asked, trying to recover from the sight.

The echidna, who only had regarded the troupe suddenly on the roof with surprise, now seemed to have recovered pretty quickly. He tossed his head backwards with a grin, the sunlight only ever so coincidentally catching on his teeth and rings. Uncaring that this seemed to provoke many disbelieving stares, he proceeded to thump his chest and pointed with one hand heroically at the sky.

"_I am Sindbad of the Seven Seas, Adventurer of Adventurers!"_

Then he raised an eyebrow. "…one of your group seems to have been seized by evil spirits. Is something wrong?"

"Err, no, he's just, err…" Tails tried to explain, but a convulsing Sonic on the ground, writhing with suppressed laughter and hammering his fist on the floor was kind of hard to sum up otherwise. Shahra floated forward quickly, trying to rescue the situation.

"Oh Sindbad, it truly is you, the great adventurer?" she asked, sounding reverent, her hands clasped in front of her chest akin to prayer. "Would you be willing to give us some of your worldly wisdom?"

"Well, Miss…er…?" the echidna started, again frowning at the spectacle in front of him which consisted of the twin-tailed fox and hedgehog girl pulling the older Mobian frantically to his feet again, the venture made difficult by the hysterical giggling the blue hedgehog was seized by again and again. Sweat-drops were not yet standard fairy-tale equipment, but the way the situation was developing they soon would be.

"Shahra. My name is Shahra," the genie quickly explained, hoping to focus the attention of the Guardian on her again. "This is Ali Baba and Sheherazade, and my Master Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Shahra." The echidna repeated the name, twitching slightly as he tried to block out the background commotion. "Listen, I hate to break it to you, but I'm kind of stuck and – _look_, I'm refusing to talk to you if that blue freak doesn't stop giggling whenever he looks at me. Did you bring the village idiot along for your adventure?"

"Knux, man, you're awesome!" Sonic grinned as if he'd swallowed a banana square, having finally stopped laughing enough to utter a sentence. He bounded over to the cage as if to get a closer look. "Chaos, I _so_ wish I had a camera right now…you didn't even dress up for last Halloween!"

"I pity you, genie." The echidna had backed away from the bars a bit, shooting the happy hedgehog a suspicious glare. "Your master speaks in tongues and is obviously insane. Plus, he appears to be...on fire," he pointed out, now sounding slightly disturbed.

"Sonic, maybe you should better leave him…" Tails started, tugging at his big brother's arm. "I know how scary it was for me before you restored my memory." To Knuckles he added: "Don't worry about the fire, though, it's okay for now. It's, err, magic," he said, obviously feeling a bit sick at having to give that as an explanation.

"Nah, come on, he can't have forgotten everything already!" Sonic piped up. "He wasn't even that far apart from us!"

"I'm sorry, but a story might very well have claimed him completely," Shahra whispered. "Don't you remember he wasn't with us in Chapter 23 at all?"

"What?" Sonic asked, confused. He turned to the trapped echidna again. "Hey, Knuckles, come on! You can't have forgotten about – andIcantbelieveImsayingthis– the _Master Emerald_, right?"

Something seemed to briefly glint in the purple eyes but then the echidna shook his head. "Emerald? I don't know of any emeralds. In fact, the only gem stones I can see are the ones in this gorgeous beauty's eyes…" he smiled and let his gaze wander admiringly over Amy, who immediately blushed a fierce crimson. Sonic put a hand across his face.

"Gods, _no_. The only way this could get even more grotesque is if you started hitting on _me_, Knucklehead. Now leave Amy alone and- _Amy_!"

"Yes, Sonic, are you alright?" The pink hedgehog asked innocently, briefly fluttering her eye lashes at him. She was currently snuggled up against the bars of the cage, one arm of hers stuck through and being caressed by the echidna. "I just complimented Sindbad on his _manly_ _physique. _Not upsetting you, I hope?"

"Why, you - he…_we-!" _Sonic stuttered, mouth opening and closing like an angry goldfish's.

"Yes? You want to say something, Sonic?" Amy smiled at him. At this point the echidna placed the lightest of kisses on her gloved hand. "Oh, but Mr. Sindbad!" Amy giggled, delighted by the effect her imitations of Rouge seemed to have on the blue hedgehog. Sonic's cheeks by now were doing a nice disco-effect of reddening and blanching at intervals (while Tails merely wore the disgusted expression all nine-year-olds assume at the kissing scene in a movie). Amy raised an eye ridge. "Not _jealous, _are we?"

"That…that is totally not the point!" Sonic tried to defend himself. "But you simply can't take advantage of Knuckles in this state!"

"My state is perfectly sound, hedgehog," the echidna threw him an irritated glance. "Apart from being stuck in this cage, that is. You should be helping me, instead of fooling around."

"_You're_ the one…_canoodling, _and you accuse_ me _of-?!" Sonic began, incredulous, but then stopped himself, trying to take a deep breath. Shahra's muttered comments of 'unfaithful females in _my _time were incinerated, you know…' weren't helping him any at this point.

"Right. Forget this. How are we supposed to help you?"

"I feel a strong magical force here," Shahra spoke up. "It must be the work of the Erazor Djinn!" ("So what else is new?" sighed Sonic.) "Which means if we can break the spell, we can undo this lock."

"Now you're talking! That's the ticket, Shahra!" the trapped echidna enthused and Sonic winced.

"Urgh. Can't we just magic back his memories with that blue World Ring we just found? The original Knuckles would surely be strong enough to break that cage anyway. Plus, he never sounded so damn _cheesy…"_

"I'm sorry." Shahra shook her head. "But Erazor's magic prevents me from reaching him in that cage. We have to open it first."

"Hey! Who are you calling cheesy? I am the adventurer of adventurers!"

Sonic shot a glance at Tails and Amy. "Let's have a vote for just leaving him here, kay?"

The echidna glared at him. "Hey, listen, hedgehog! Life's a game of give and take, see? You help me get out of here, and in return I'll help you out later. Not a bad deal, right?"

Shahra nodded. "You are right." To Sonic, she added. "We will have to find the key to that cage. We were looking for Sindbad the Sailor because he knows how to deal with the Ifrit in the factory, remember? If I restored the Guardian's memories before we have a chance to ask him, the worldly wisdom of Sindbad would be lost!"

Sonic quirked an eye ridge. "Knuckles….wisdom?" he enquired, sounding much like someone trying to connect the concepts of 'Mother Theresa' and 'Blitzkrieg', but then quickly shook his head, grinning again. "Ah, never mind. Come on, Amy, let go of our hero's arm and we can go find that key!"

"Yeah," Tails nodded, sounding relieved. "No worries, Knu – Sindbad, we'll have you out in no time!"

"Glad to hear it, Ali Baba," the echidna nodded, then pointed to something in the distance. "Besides the one we are on now, this building has four surrounding towers. On each of them is a…device of some sort that is supposed to open one of the locks. They are connected to this tower by flying fox devices. I heard the gargoyles talking about them."

"What, you can understand them?" Sonic cocked his head.

The red-furred Sapient gave him a condescending stare. "I am Sindbad of the Seven Seas, adven-"

"Okayokay, I get it! Come on, team, let's move!" Sonic hustled the others away hurriedly. At the other end of the roof, the four flying foxes were waiting for them, as the echidna had specified. The hero of Mobius rubbed his chin.

"I think we should split into teams. You two are immune to this story thing by now and we'd have this done much faster," he finally managed. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah, sure!" Amy perked up. "Shahra and Tails can be one team and we'll be the other, right, Sonikku?"

"Uh…Amy, I'm not even sure whether Shahra can remain separate from me that long while I have the ring…" the blue hedgehog tried to evade the question, secretly thinking there was a _reason_ why girls featured so seldom in early adventure stories. To his dismay, Shahra had a much less fuzzy answer.

"Yes, I can, Sonic, as long as we stay in the same chapter. But that is not the point – as your genie, I am _bound _to protect you! We will make one team, surely?"

"No, I will go with Sonic! He's my brother and I _always _go with him!" Tails protested at this and immediately levelled his bright blue gaze at the older Mobian. "You wanted to go with me, right?"

"Squabbling isn't leading anywhere," Amy declared, crossing her arms. "Sonic, you decide the teams now."

The hero of Mobius tried very hard not to show a pained look. He was currently facing a choice that would lead to at least two people developing abandonment issues no matter what he did. He sighed. Knuckles and Shadow might have tried to rip his head off numerous times, but travelling with them suddenly gained a whole new advantage.

"…we'll make two teams," Sonic said finally. "Meaning, I'll be one, and you three the other." _And I'll take the tower furthest from here. _

"What?!"

"But-!"

"Master, I-!"

"No arguing." Sonic, fists on his hips, tried to use his stern voice. (He had developed it earlier when Tails would refuse to eat his vegetables, claiming his fox-ancestry would exclude him from 'green stuff'. Sonic usually had retorted that if that was the case, his feral ancestry would also prevent him from eating triple-frosted chocolate cake, which had always worked marvellously well.) "This world is dangerous and I'd feel a lot better if the three of you stuck together. Amy can take care of any gargoyle, Tails is able to lift you from any traps and Shahra's got her magic up her sleeve. We'll each take two towers and Knux will be out in a jiffy, alright? _Please_, guys."

The two Mobians and genie mumbled something that could have been grudging assent. Sonic nodded. "Cool. I'll take the tower on the left first, see you in a bit!" he smiled at them, before leaping onto the flying fox and soaring toward the tower that was his first destination. Shahra, Amy and Tails watched him go.

"That isn't fair…" the fox kit moaned. "I can handle things myself just well, he knows that!"

"Yeah, me, too," Amy nodded. "I wish he'd take me more seriously."

"And with the new magic from the Ring I'm also fairly certain I could do more on my own…" Shahra added hesitantly, not wishing to contradict the wishes of her master.

"Right." The pink hedgehog crossed her arms. "That settles it. We'll split up, too. We'll show Sonic we're not just sidekicks!"

"You mean…each one takes a tower?" Tails asked, ears pricking up.

"Yes. And we'll also make this a race. The winner…" her jaw set firmly. "…gets to _hug_ Sonic."

Shahra and Tails, their expressions now as serious as graves, nodded grimly.

"_Agreed." _

xxx

Sonic, rushing high above the ground on the flying fox wondered why he had just felt a cold shudder run down his spine.

xxx

"Alright! No time to lose!" Amy called, immediately grabbing hold of the handle nearest to her and rushing off.

"H-hey! No fair!" Tails called after her in dismay. Then he growled, dropping down to the next flying fox, pushing off from the ground and using his two appendages to propel himself faster as he soared along. Looking back for one last second, he called: "Good luck, Shahra! Be careful!"

"You too, Envoy!" the genie called back, then immediately looked for the fourth and last line. She didn't need it as she could fly just as easily, but it would guide her nonetheless.

"Do not worry, Sindbad the Sailor!" she waved at the trapped echidna. "We'll rescue you!" she assured him, before jumping on the next breeze wafting toward her destination.

The red-furred Mobian, who _hadn't_ been worried before he'd seen his rescue transformed into a game between three apparently star-struck kids and one blue-furred total nutter, sunk against the bars of his cage.

"Yeah…any day now, thanks…"

xxx

Sonic dropped down on the Rukh the flying fox had brought him to, falling onto a broad, cobbled street that was tilted wildly to the side. In front of him a broken tower loomed, a strange, circular thing standing on top which the blue hedgehog presumed to be the contraption Knuckles-Sindbad had talked about. Grinning, he set on his way, destroying a couple of spinning henchmen with a well-aimed homing attack series before he entered the greenish building. He jumped onto another bouncing pad placed in the middle of the empty floor with a laugh, being propelled upwards to the first ridge inside on the wall of the tall ruin.

Once there, his features lit up even further as there was no physical way to the next ridge, but instead only a speeding pad on the end of his ledge, which he gleefully used to run sideways along the vertical wall to get ahead…

_Woo-hoo, this is the life, isn't it, Shah - drat, that's right, you're with Amy and Tails now…_shot through his head, almost unaccustomed to the sudden mental silence. Then he shrugged. As easy as this tower was, they'd be re-united soon enough. Next up, the ledge became so slim he'd have to shuffle across it sideways…which was almost no problem at all until a (purple) rocket suddenly screamed past him and had almost blown him to pieces.

_YIKES! Gotta be a bit more careful here, I'm just glad the others can all watch out for each other…_

xxx

"WOAH!" Amy had just dodged another projectile that had almost taken her head off. For some reason, the entrance of the tower the flying fox had brought her to had been blocked by a giant black stone and guarded by some of Erazor's henchmen. And as soon as she had punched them into next chapter, suddenly the stone block had exploded…

"Whacko," mumbled Amy, carefully poking her head from behind a fallen pillar to check whether any other freaky things would decide to explode, too. Oh, if Sonic didn't at _least _give her a peck on the cheek for this…!

She made her way inside the tower, which seemed harmless enough – until three other monster puppets formed from thin air and one of them spewed a fountain of fire in her direction. Shrieking, she dived to the floor.

_SONICSAVEMESONICSAVEMESONIC – no wait, I'm actually alright. _Amy breathed a sigh of relief, then scrambled away hurriedly against a wall. Lucky for her, the creatures did not seem to be that intelligent, none of them pursuing her. The fire breather continued to exhale its deadly magic, but as long as you didn't approach it from the front, you would be fine. Amy considered her next action. She couldn't summon her hammer any more at the moment, Chaos knew why it was getting difficult again. Yet surely she needed to defeat the monsters. Then suddenly, as she leaned against the wall for support, she noticed one chief sensation. Namely, that her lower backside suddenly seemed to feel the stone directly instead of being separated from it by fabric.

"What-?!" Amy whirled around mortified, twisting her head to look down her back. Right unto the giant, burnt hole in her ivory harem pants, exposing her delicate pink tail and everything beneath.

The girl hedgehog _slowly_ turned around to the monsters again, the flames the leader of them still spouted nothing compared to the volcanic fires roaring in her scorching gaze.

"Oh no, you _didn't…" _

xxx

Sonic's ears perked up as he wondered whether he'd just imagined the terrified screaming riding on the wind.

_Na__h. Musta been my imagination driving me nuts. I mean, that sounded like somebody getting his innards torn out alive… _

Shuddering for no reason, he turned toward the lianas that wanted to be crossed again. Only one more storey to the top…

xxx

"Heh. Piece of cake," Tails smiled as he soared past a narrow ledge that was booby-trapped with spikes coming out of the wall if you tried to shuffle along it. Life was a lot easier with an appendage propeller.

"I'll win that race in no time. If all the towers are like this, not even _Sonic_ can beat me!" the little fox kit assured himself. "I'll get that hug for sure…" Then, he shrieked as a giant spiked ball suddenly soared down in front of him, the thing floating freakishly in thin air. Tails yelped and immediately flew into a wall.

"Ahhh – where'd _that_ come from-?!" he wailed as he desperately tried to regain some balance in the air again, managing to break his fall enough so he wouldn't break his _bones _as he impacted on the stone floor again. He glared upwards at the bouncing spike ball, which was still floating serenely (and, in Tails' opinion, extremely _smugly_) up and down in the air where it had first obscured his path.

The little fox scowled. That wasn't fair, only _he_ was allowed to fly, not the stupid obstacles!

_Ahem, yes. Way to be a grown-up, Tails. _The small kit shook his head, blushing at his childish reaction and less than dignified screw-up just now. He was a little bit glad Sonic hadn't been around to see that.

He picked himself up from the floor, and, trying to growl as deep and impressively as Knuckles and Sonic in these situations always did, leapt upwards once more.

xxx

"Oh no…more henchmen from Erazor…" Shahra bit her lip as she regarded the brutish monsters blocking her path. She was sure that once she was inside her tower, she'd be able to float to the top easily, any obstacles would just pass through her if she decided it to be so. But the entrance door was blocked and three spinning monster puppets of the evil Djinn were guarding it, meaning she somehow had to defeat them if she wanted to get inside…

"Oh Sonic, I can't let you down…" her face creased in apprehension, as she was no physical fighter like the others. She pressed her lips together. "Right. I am full of magic right now, so you better watch out," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. The genie raised her right hand to cast an incantation. As she had explained to Sonic and the others earlier, the 'monster puppets' were actually called _Mary Sues_, horrid patchwork creatures that were created from ruins of what once had been great legends, and they would suck stories dry of life and do terrible things to the characters they found inside them… ('Fortunately not very intelligent, though' she had added.)

Now her pretty face became a rigid mask as she tried to concentrate and recall the ancient spell that she had once been told would destroy the monsters…she had never understood the meaning of it, but surely what was written in the old scrolls couldn't be wrong, right? She took a deep breath and recited:

"_Oh __vile Sue of Mary, thou art badly written and thine authoress sucketh so hard…" _

xxx

Again, for some reason Sonic suddenly had the feeling as if something like a joke had just soared over his head.

"Heh. Whatever." He would have shrugged, had not his arms been trembling right now with the exertion of letting their owner cling to the umpteenth ivy liana he was swinging along. Another haphazard jump brought him onto a stone ridge again, a rather uncomfortable resting place as sand kept pouring onto his head from the mouth of some sort of goblin head-like sculpture sticking out of the wall like a particularly tasteless water fountain. Sonic shivered inside as he remembered what Shahra had told him about the river of sand back in Sand Oasis and quickly crawled along the ledge on all fours to get out of this stuff. Then, his lips stretched into his trademark grin as he spied the next thing up ahead.

"Plot hole. Oh boy, awesome!"

Sonic leapt, securely being caught by the (toothless) circular contraption which was pointed straight at the sky visible through the broken roof of the tower. Sonic only hung in the air for a second, before the thing contracted and he was blasted upwards with a whoop of joy. He spun in the weightlessness at the apex of his jump for the sheer pleasure of it, then came to land securely on what remained of the roof of the tower. His gaze immediately fell onto the thing he'd seen from the ground, which he could now make out to be some sort of giant oval mirror. It was mounted onto a stand, its surface pale and milky, framed by greenish stone. In front of it was a lever, almost as tall as Sonic himself. The hedgehog carefully walked closer.

"Hmm, seems as if I should pull it…"

(Then again, the thing could have been fenced off with barbed wire and marked 'End Of The World – Please Do Not Push' and that still would have been his primary reaction. There just was a very basic Sonic-ness about that concept.)

Sonic grabbed the lever in both hands and pulled.

xxx

"Arrgh. _Finally._ I swear, if _any_ monsters try to give me any more shtick while we're in this book, I will-" Amy muttered under her breath as she pulled herself up. Her tower had involved numerous jumping pads and had been a bit of a maze of ledges but now she had managed to pull herself onto the roof. There were no monsters at all in sight anymore. "Oh hey, the…thing!" she managed somewhat more enthusiastically as she set eyes on her own magical mirror and lever.

Being Amy, the first thing she did was using it to check whether the solution she had devised for her pants dilemma _really_ covered everything. Honestly, Knuckles could wait a bit.

Being somewhat satisfied, she then turned to the tall lever. Thin arms reached out.

xxx

"_Stupidstupidstupid_-RRRRRGH!"

Tails had been indeed the first on top of his tower, but for the youngest and smallest team member, his lever turned out to be _little _bit of a stubborn one.

xxx

"Oh, this – this is fantastic, I really made it…!" Shahra breathed out excitedly as she floated through the roof, her transparent from becoming solid once again as she had finished her journey. Almond-shaped eyes grew wide as she beheld the fourth of the mirrors.

"This…this magic is ancient…" she whispered as she ran a hand along the contraption, feeling the tingle of light magic contained in there. This mirror would, she suspected, turn with the lever and catch the light of the sun, focusing and reflecting it to hit the locks on the cage…being comprised from dark magic, they would dissolve. A simple, yet effective concept. She stiffened momentarily as she felt the presence of yet another spell but then relaxed again as she recognized it as merely a simple teleport. Whoever was to open the cage by pushing the lever would automatically be transported back to the first tower – perhaps a caution so the prisoner would never be unattended when released. Here, it came very much in handy, as it meant that once everyone had accomplished their goal they'd be teleported straight back to the Guardian and they wouldn't have to go chase down any missing team members. Shahra smiled. This little solo venture had actually been…exciting…

"Oh legendary hedgehog, is that how you feel all the time…?" She wondered. This pure _joy_ for life…

Then, quickly before guilt could flood back into her mind, she waved her hand again and a green glow enveloped the lever, forcing it slowly to the right…

xxx

"Okay, so what's gonna happen now…?" Sonic questioned thin air, taking a step backwards and craning his head to see the large mirror rotate slowly on his stand. With a blinding glint, the sun suddenly caught on it and the thing shone brightly, the light being focused into a single ray, blasting toward the general direction of the cage.

"Uh-oh…" Sonic mumbled, worried that Knuckles might get hurt and he leant over the railing of the roof trying to get a better view. But as far as he could ascertain, the light only hit the cage – and then, with only seconds delay in between, three identical rays shot forward from other towers, all focusing on the trapped echidna. Sonic frowned.

"Waitamoment, all three already…?"

Which was as far as he came before a white glow enveloped him and suddenly both mirror, lever and surroundings had disappeared.

Sonic dropped onto the stone roof.

"Well done, hedgehog. You got me out of there," Knuckles' voice roused him from his confusion and the blue hero quickly got up and noted with slight surprise that he was back where he'd started, the echidna now standing outside of his cage, its door lying on the floor.

_Some kind off oddball teleport. But where are-?_

Three identical flashes where the next surprise. Sonic's eye ridges rose a bit as Shahra, Tails and Amy appeared, all at first blinking at the sudden location change, then their gazes all falling on him and their faces lighting up.

"Sonic!"

"Master!"

"_My darling Sonikku!" _

And then, all of them: "I WAS HERE FIRST!"

The echidna didn't even quirk an eye ridge as the crazy hedgehog was buried beneath his even crazier companions.

_Bloody march hares, __the lot of them._

To be continued…

* * *

And the Adventurer of Adventurers is saved! Can he tell them how to defeat the Ifrit? And more importantly, will Knuckles ever live it down?

Also, before you ask me why I spell him 'Sindbad' instead of 'Sinbad', both of them are possible and legit transcriptions from the Arabic into the Roman alphabet. I just happen to prefer the first one because that's how I came across it first. :P


	26. Plotholes at 5000 ft

**FantomoDrako: **(blushes) heh, thanks!^^ And wow, I bet your friend must be grateful to you, I'm so glad my very own Mary Sue never ever saw the light of fanfic and stayed in that roleplay where she belongs… :P Hope you enjoy the bits of Sindbad in this chappie as well and thanks for the review! :D

**Ri2: **Okay, lessee…Shahra could be referring to both, though I'm not sure the Arabian Nights and this fanfic synch up in terms of chapters. ;) And there's a few people who actually ship Knuxamy, though I don't. But hey, Amy's cute and Sindbad seems to be a ladies' man… XD That question about the goons was actually a real clever idea, made me laugh.^^ Amy's trouble with her hammer will be explained…eventually. :P You have pity with the monsters? Just you wait for this chappie…XD And as for the hug…please read on! Thanks for always commenting!

**Lupus Silvae: **(silver wolf…?) Heheh, yeah, if I had to spend more chapters in the Floating Ruins I'd have gone insane. Glad you liked the way it was handled! Nah, no worries for Sonic, save your pity for Knux when he wakes up…XD Thanks for the nice review!

**Tutis 75: **(always reminds me of a pharaoh…like, Tutis the 75th for some reason…XD) Thanks for commenting, I do hope you enjoy the next chapter, though the Ifrit may yet pose a bigger problem than expected… :P

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Heh, thanks! :D I aim to please…glad you liked the Sindbad nonsense going on, I had been waiting for ages to write the scene, I simply love crackpairings…thanks a lot for that really nice review, I do hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

**petite-dreamer: ** (blushes) wow, thanks. Coming from you, that really means something to me. I'm glad everyone enjoys the disturbed Knuxamy and as for Dark-and-Moody…ohohohoh, you'll just have to wait and see. XD Thanks for yet another review!

**lokoforsonic9559: **Ah, okay.^^ Thanks for commenting, glad you liked it!

**Dunehazard: **(bows) Heh, glad you agree. Sorry for the long wait, but it's finally here…

**crimson-obsidian-rose: **Heeeeh, happy you liked it! Knuxamy proves way too entertaining to write. XD Especially with poor Sonic having to watch…:P Oh, so Sindbad is actually closer to the original? That's cool, I didn't know that, thanks! :D Are you fluent in two languages, then? Thanks for yet another nice review!

**Asher Tye: **Prepare for the viewer-discretioned beatdown's repercussions…:P But meh, you're right, that bit of dialogue actually didn't make much sense. He wouldn't be able to break magic locks no matter his strength, I think…attribute it to Sonic's lack of logical thinking, maybe? (drop) Yeah, I too love bringing in a bit of instinct stuff – doesn't matter whether undead, alien, robot, monster or animal, I always love having non-human characters. ;) But I didn't have any particular Mary Sues in mind, no…it's been quite a while since I saw one, actually, because I am so picky with fanfic nowadays I hardly ever come across a story that would contain one.^^

**CerberAsta: **Heh thanks! Yeah, I did read through quite a bit of the Arabian Nights so far…I do like fairy tales of all kinds, they're so bizarre.^^ Thanks for your review, I hope you enjoy the next chapter as well!

**Avitala: **Sure he does, he's awesome! XD Thanks for commenting

**star's dreams: **XD That theory is great. ^^ Please have fun with the new chapter, Knux is not quite his old self yet…

**A Reserved Deduction: **Agh, did I get them flipped? I think it was kinda late when I typed that chapter…:P As for how far Amy can and will push this little game of hers, let's read to find out, shall we..? ;) Thanks for the review!

**Yume Takato: ** Amy's pants coming right up! XD Thanks for commenting!

**Rebell: **Heh, Amy getting cleverer is certainly true…gah, I can't work with stupid or weak characters, all of them have to be somewhat cool at least. ;) (blushes) thank you ever so much for that wonderful review, too. Now, let's see the return of the Bling King…

**DgShadowChocolate: **Hah, glad you do! :D Thanks!

**Ngandu the Croc: **Heh, thanks for that wonderfully long review! I had just as much fun writing this chapter, I'm glad you liked it!^^ As for how far that contest over affection goes…well, read on to find out! ;)

**LordxxAxelxxLover: **A new reviewer?Glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for commenting and have fun with the new chapter!

**Amyfan4ever: **Hahah, thanks! Always happy to know which scenes worked best! :D Hope you like the new chapter as well, more Amyness to come…;)

**Blue Mage Quartet: **Hah, no worries! I take ages to get these chapters done, I fully understand there's a real life going on outside the net! :P I actually want a banana sword for myself, too…XD Blame the Doctor Who show for me using the word 'canoodling', btw. ;) And just you wait until you read what Amy actually *did* to those monsters…Thanks for both reviews!

**FanFic35236: **No breaks. At all. Ever. Well, except when he gets to cuddle Sonic. :P

**Witch O' Miracles: **O.o Wow, thanks for all those wonderful reviews! The game as such was okay, I probably would go insane if I had to play a game I hated for a fanfic…(Rayman 2: The Great Escape, anyone?) I base my characterization mostly off JudasFm's fanfics, she's got a very cool Knuckles and Sonic. I do like the constant banter…plus, I envision Knuckles more like a really cool fighter and Robotnik as an insane, yet brilliant genius and villain instead of naïve idiots…who wants to write/read that? SEGA, you're doing it wrong! My tactic for writing humour…? Read Terry Pratchett. Lots of it. XD As for Sonic/Tails – I do love their brotherly relationship and Sonic going Papa Wolf on anyone *daring* to hurt the cub…so yeah, lots more of that to come!^^ All in all, thanks again for all the comments and I do hope you enjoy the new chapter (or my other fics) just as much! ;D

**janiemanie1993: **Hahahah, patience, my young padawan, patience. XD The fanfic I was thinking about for O.o He's a MONSTER!-Robotnik is Secrets of the Emeralds by JudasFm. You have been warned. I did indeed read the Arabian Nights, I do love bizarre fairy tales. My first language is German. I hope you enjoy the update on both 'Life…' and this one!

* * *

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game, the loading times would have taken two months for each level… **

**Chapter 26:** **Plotholes at 5000 Feet**

"Mmeeeyes, mmh aaan _eeeethe_!" Sonic's muffled cries issued beneath the fur-pile, which probably would have meant something like ‚Guys, I can't _breathe!_' had the hero only had the breath to say so.

"Sonic, Sonic, I was here first! And I was so brave, facing those mean spirits!" Something pink and vaguely Amy-ish crushing his waist squealed, and if Sonic hadn't been too distracted by somebody else sitting on his chest and shaking him by the shoulders, yelling something or other about 'sneaky balls' (Sonic wasn't sure whether he had misheard that part) and generally exuberating into his face, the hedgehog might even have been able to reply to either of his excited attackers. As it was, there was also Shahra floating above his head and _also _talking, which wasn't exactly helpful.

"Guys! Please! Some personal space here!" The hero of Mobius finally managed, at last able to push himself up on his elbows and managing to calm all three of his friends down a little. "I know I'm awesome and all, but what's the big deal?"

"We had a competition, Sonic and-"

"-we all separated to get one tower done each and-"

"-the winner was supposed to get a hug!"

Sonic blinked a couple times, wondering whether that was still Shahra, Tails and Amy or whether they had turned into Donald Duck's three nephews by mistake. Finally a small grin crept onto his face, though, as he realized what his companions had actually wanted from him and what lengths they'd gone to to achieve it. True, it made him still a bit uncomfortable knowing how much they depended on his approval and praise, but as long as he was able to make them happy that was okay, right? And he had to admit he also felt just a little bit of pride seeing how well they had all handled the situation, their success obvious by looking at the echidna's opened cage…

"Okay, alright," he began good-naturedly as he settled into a sitting position, Tails and Amy finally sliding off him, "Just who am I supposed to give this hug to, then?"

"Me, Sonic! I flew all the way up to the tower, I must've been the first one back!" The fox piped up, tails wagging wildly in agitation.

"Like heck you were! I had to face _fire-breathing demons_ on my way, if there's anyone who deserves that hug it's me!" Amy crossed her arms, turning her nose up. Sonic's eyes widened a little.

"Fire breathing demons?" he asked, worry riding on his words. Those guys would have almost killed Knuckles in the factory if he hadn't been there to save him…the idea of Amy having encountered those monsters alone didn't sit well with him at all and his throat constricted as he swallowed. He was about to ask the younger hedgehog whether they had hurt her, when his gaze finally took her in properly and noticed that her wardrobe was now just a tiny bit different.

"Err, Amy…what happened to your pants?" he asked, not exactly sure whether asking such a question was reason enough for a girl to slap you. The pink hedgehog was wearing a short skirt now, made from some strange grey material with black markings and a pretty green jewel apparently sewn into the side. In fact, it reminded him of-

"The monsters burned a hole in them. I made this skirt from their hide!"

Amy announced this very cheerfully and everybody backed just a _little_ bit off as the Mobian girl twirled once for Sonic. "Isn't it pretty? I like skirts much better than pants anyway." She smiled. Sonic was _very_ quick to nod (and also to make a mental note that worrying about Amy probably would not have been very necessary.)

"Yes, it, uh, suits you real well, Amy," he complimented while trying to pull his panicked little brother hiding behind his back to the front again.

"Oh really?! Thank you, Sonic!" Amy's jade eyes sparkled and Sonic barely bit his lip before he could ask what she had made her _under_pants from then. He had no desire to give her a reason to wear a blue fur stole next.

"Heh, no worries. But good on ya defeating them on your own," Sonic gave a nod to her, his tone one of genuine appreciation this time. Tails meanwhile wondered whether Shahra turning green there for a second had to mean anything. When Sonic looked at her next, she was instantly back to normal though.

"And hey, Shahra! You did one tower, too?"

"Yes, Master." She bowed, sounding pleased. "I was able to defeat some monsters as well," she announced, her tone obviously holding the hope that this would gratify Sonic like Amy's and Tails' stories had done. She wasn't disappointed.

"Way to GO, Shahra! Just wait up, when the Arabian Nights are in trouble the next time you'll be able to save them all on your own!" Sonic gave her one of his trademark thumbs-ups (and Tails wondered whether Amy turning green there for a second had to mean anything….) before then finally crossing his arms regarding all of his companions with mock seriousness.

"Okay, but who am I supposed to give this hug to, then? Hmm, that's really tough…" he mused, but couldn't keep from grinning for too long. "Aw, to hell with it. Group hug!" He laughed as he was once again glomped from all sides (even though no one wanted to come close to touching the magical arrow embedded in his chest) and the general fluffiness was only interrupted when a gruff voice cleared its throat.

"I said _Ahem. _Anybody listening to me? WILL YOU STOP IGNORING THE ADVENTURER OF ADVENTURES!" the freed echidna shouted at last, not in the least accustomed to anybody getting more attention than himself. He had watched the spectacle of his deranged saviors for the last minute, not sure whether he shouldn't just leave before he was infected by whatever crazy foreign spirits surely were possessing them. But then again, 1) that pink girl _was _cute (and he couldn't _believe_ she was showing her legs like this – he could see her _knees_ for god's sake!) and 2) they were on a flying fortress run by gargoyles 5 000 feet in the air and _you _try 'leaving' in that situation.

"Oh yeah. Knux!" Sonic blinked as he untangled himself from his friends again. "Right, we gotta fix ya. Shahra, with that ring we found you can restore his memories, right? "

"Yes, Sonic, but _first_ we must ask him about the Ifrit, remember? We need the worldly wisdom of Sindbad the Sailor for this," Shahra repeated patiently, apparently growing accustomed to a master who could save the universe but forget what you were talking about ten minutes ago. Sonic nodded.

"Gotcha." Turning to the echidna, he added, "Okay, so about the fire genie, then. We got you out of the cage, now you have to help us out. How do we defeat him?" the blue hedgehog asked, one hand on his hip.

"The Ifrit is a strong spirit," the red-furred Sapient said slowly, before closing his eyes for a moment and running a hand under his chin in contemplation. "Let me think for a moment…"

The assembled Mobians waited as a silent minute passed, Sonic feeling the agitation of his younger friends growing in the background, almost as if emotions were getting more palpable to him the longer they were in this book. Before he could muse on this any longer, though, the echidna's eyes finally snapped open and he snipped his fingers.

"Oh, I know! Why not just try splashing some water on him?!"

"WOW!" Sonic exploded. "The wisdom of the Sindbad of the Seven Seas! The Adventurer of Adventurers!" he proclaimed dramatically, raising one hand to the sky in a heroic pose right until the echidna was straight in his face and glaring.

"Hey! I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" The red-furred Sapient barked, causing Sonic to go immediately into offended-dignity-mode as well and pushing back with his own forehead.

"_Better_ ideas? For Chaos' sake, you know that _Big_ could have come up with a better idea? Or, for that matter, _Froggy_ could have-!"

Tails and Amy couldn't help but share an all-too-familiar glance for a moment, both realizing that apparently Knuckles getting turned into Sindbad had had exactly zero effect on his relationship with the blue hedgehog.

Nodding to each other briefly, they both stepped forward in unison.

"Stop it, please!" Amy called, taking a hold of the echidna who immediately yielded under her grip, not willing to hurt a female while Tails had much the same effect on Sonic.

"Yeah, the problem is how are we going to get _enough_ water to put out a fire genie?" the fox kit piped up, only releasing his older brother when it became apparent he wasn't going to rile up the other Sapient again.

The echidna huffed. "I was _getting _to that." He gently removed Amy's hands from his shoulders and then faced the questioning looks of the other three Mobians and genie. "You see, the pirates who locked me up here took the water-blue ring I use to control storms."

"A water-blue…?" Tails repeated.

"…ring." Shahra finished for him, nodding. Nobody seemed to have noticed that the hero of Mobius just now had paled considerably, privately imagining what Knuckles with the power of controlling large masses of water would mean for him personally. Shahra, who shared a mind-link with him, could vaguely make out a mental picture of a screaming blue something being carried off by a giant wave over the edge of a flying island, with a mini version of Knuckles laughing maniacally in the background, but was clueless what to make of it.

Amy frowned. "Wait what, pirates? You didn't say anything of pirates before. I mean, how on Mobius would _pirates _lock you up on a gargoyle fortress 5000 feet in the air?" she asked, incredulously. "This isn't _Laputa_, you know?"

The echidna blinked for a moment. "I…can't remember…they must have hit me on the head too hard when they finally got to me, the fiends! But rest assured, fair maiden, I defeated a hundred men before I fell and destroyed a dozen of their ships," he declared confidently, wrapping an arm around Amy's waist at the same time. "Would you care to join me at the fireside tonight, beautiful Sheherazade, and listen to my stories of daring deeds and manifold adventures?" he smiled down at a suddenly very red-faced Amy who probably was wondering right now if it had been such a great idea to tear off an extra strip from her skirt to make it even shorter earlier, "You might find one or two things about me you want to add to your collection…"

"What the-?! _You're supposed to be Sindbad, not bloody Casanova_!" Sonic interjected, forcing his way in between them. "You're getting your memories back right now!"

"But still…_pirates_?" Amy looked at Tails as the blue hedgehog was dragging a protesting echidna away, trying to smooth over her embarrassment quickly. The kit shrugged.

"Probably one of those weird story-things again. I mean, first a fire genie and now pirates. The Arabian Nights really are worlds of endless plot holes, aren't they?" he gave a small smile.

"I suppose so…" Amy replied, but was interrupted by the echidna's voice suddenly shouting.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're do-!"

Both of their heads snapped around to look at Sonic and Shahra facing the howling pillar of white wind suddenly engulfing the red-furred Sapient. The screams of anger diminished within the gales after only a couple of seconds and then Shahra threw her arms up with a cry before the tornado-like column dissolved as quickly as it had come and only left an exhausted genie girl and a slumped crimson body on the floor.

The echidna raised his head slowly. "What…where is this?" he asked, before his eyes instantly narrowing as an all-too-familiar blue face shoved itself into his view, its owner having dropped down on the floor on all fours next to him.

"Sonic?" Knuckles frowned.

"Great, you're back!" the hedgehog exclaimed, before his grin instantly turned mischievous.

"You got absorbed by a story for a day but we saved you and returned your memories. And you don't know it yet, but DUDE_, _have I got things to mock you with now…!"

Knuckles' heart sank so rapidly, the echidna could have sworn he heard it fall with a _clank._

xxx

"Oh gods."

By now it had been ten minutes since the four adventurers had filled Knuckles in on what he had missed and the echidna still hadn't taken his hands from his face.

"Hey, cheer up!" Sonic called. "After all, it could have been worse – you could've been some show-off egomaniac in a ridiculous costume constantly hitting on Amy – no, _wait…!_"

Knuckles curled in on himself even more.

"Sonic, stop making fun of him!" Amy chided. "Each one of us had their memories stolen and it wasn't funny," the girl admonished, crossing her arms and giving the blue hedgehog a stern glance. She was also faintly blushing and indeed feeling a little bit guilty now for leading the echidna on when he had first set eyes on her as Sindbad - even if it _had _been kind of nice to finally have a guy paying attention to you…Amy blushed even deeper and quickly downcast her head. At least it meant that she felt she should come to Knuckles' aid now, even if she usually would be defending Sonic.

"I…I have to apologize." The pink hedgehog looked up, noting with surprise that Knuckles had raised his head and was glancing at her. "What I said and did to you wasn't appropriate. I'm sorry," he said stiffly, obviously having to struggle to get the words out. Amy quickly shook her head.

"No, no, it's okay. It wasn't your fault, you weren't yourself!"

"Hnh." Knuckles nodded curtly and Amy even thought there was a bit of gratefulness radiating from him. She realized that even though Sonic probably didn't notice it much, there really was something more to that honour code the echidna claimed to live by than just mere words. Knowing that Knuckles would probably wish to change the topic, she cleared her throat.

"Right. So, uh, guys, how're we gonna get down from here? We can't leave with that rocket thing again…" she trailed off, glancing questioningly at the rest of their team.

"Yeah…damn, we'd need some Extreme Gear right now," Sonic joked weakly, knowing that despite his words to Jet over a year ago, if taken literally, hedgehogs very sadly _couldn't_ fly; while Tails, Knuckles and Shahra might have had a chance to reach the ground alive, he and Amy were stuck.

"Can't you magic something for us, Shahra?" Sonic asked, "Or Tails, can you build any plane-like thingamajig with stuff that's lying around here?"

The fox bit his lip. "No, I'm sorry, but there's just not enough stuff _here, _and I'd need more tools than just my screwdriver as well…"

"Yeah, I suppose…" Sonic frowned mildly, although he could have expected that answer. Turning to Shahra, he added: "And what about you? How about that magic carpet you flew me into the Arabian Nights on?" he suggested, stoically ignoring the growl from Amy that expressed what she personally thought of _any _carpet that had Shahra and Sonic on it together. But once again, the genie shook her head.

"My magic is running very low at the moment because I had to restore the Guardian's memories. I could manage an ordinary carpet, but a flying one is out of the question…"

"Then what are we gonna do?!" Amy wailed. "I'm hungry and we could _starve_ before we get off this thing!"

"Which is probably what Robuttnik was hoping for in the first place when he sent us up here," Sonic muttered darkly. He _had_ been starving in the scientist's dungeons before and it was not the sort of memories he cherished.

Suddenly, though, his face lit up. "Hey, I know! Shahra, let's have your ordinary carpet, but make it _big_. I have an idea of how to get down from here…"

"What? This isn't one of your insane plans of action again, is it?" Amy asked, uncharacteristically criticizing her hero, but the memory of Sonic throwing them both off an exploding rocket-platform earlier today still persisted. Sonic winked.

"No worries, this one has been tried and tested!"

Xxx

Minutes later, Amy's hands were clasped in prayer. "Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh…"

Admittedly, they were also clasped rather tightly around one of the edges of the carpet that the four Mobians were currently using as a communal parachute, but the whole 5000-ft-in-the-air- bit might have had something to do with the frantically muttered divine conversation.

Below them, the landscape stretched out, at first appearing curiously flat but then dissolving ever more into a 3D-map. They could see the grand buildings of the Palace and the Foundry in the distance, the green mess wedged in a giant canyon that was Dinosaur Valley, grey mountains rearing at the horizon and the endless, endless expanse of the desert where no author had imagined the landscape yet, Shahra told them.

"Relax, we're almost halfway down!" the hero of Mobius called cheerfully from where he dangled across from her, his tone not betraying the effort he had to put into holding on. A sudden gust of wind let them all yelp and nearly toppled their carpet over , but luckily some skilled flying and aerial manoeuvring from Tails and Knuckles, as well as the little bit of wind magic that Shahra still had left rapidly stabilized them again.

"Where are we even going to land?" Knuckles shouted, his dreadlocks still flaring around his face.

"Well, as Sindbad you told us that the water-blue Ring got stolen from you by pirates, so we have to make for the coast where their ships usually appear," Shahra replied, pointing toward where the oriental landscape gave way to an endless expanse of blue ocean. Sonic gave an ever so faint groan.

"Chaos, _no._.."

"I'll try to make the wind spirits push us into that direction!" the genie announced (in Sonic's opinion rather unhelpfully) and soon a breeze indeed began to blow them gently toward the coast where they descended after what seemed like an eternity with aching arms into the sandy dunes to cushion their fall.

Knuckles idly wondered how many times he had caught a faceful of sand on this adventure before and resisted the urge to grind his (sandy) teeth when he estimated how often it would yet be the case.

xxx

It was later that night when the five companions were busy preparing their campsite and trying to find some food, all of their stomachs growling and giving them painful cramps. They had decided to stay in the wind shelter behind the dunes for the night, since the light was fading rapidly and nobody fancied stumbling around on the beach in the dark when they didn't even know whether and where the flood might be coming in. Sonic most decidedly was against stumbling around on the beach no matter _what_ the conditions were like, but the softly crackling flame on his chest painfully reminded him that sadly, that decision was no longer his own…

No need to spoil the evening with morbid thoughts, though. It seemed to become quite the cozy campsite by now, too. Knuckles was busy getting a fire going with drift wood they had collected at the beach which would make for wildly coloured flames once the crafty echidna had coaxed the embers into consuming the offered food. Amy had gone out again to fish for some seaweed they could roast and eat, while Tails was flying effortlessly up into the banana and palm trees to collect fruit and coconuts for dessert. Shahra had almost managed to conjure up four sleeping cots they'd be able to tie into the trees later and Sonic had been sent out to get food for tonight – they had seen feral rabbits in the grassier area of the dunes earlier and the vote on who should try to catch some had been unanimous.

The hedgehog returned soon enough, but it was Knuckles who had to kill the three mammals he'd caught; Sonic didn't trust himself to end their life with the minimal amount of suffering that he wished for them, but the self-sufficient echidna had hunted on his own island often enough to be able to kill quickly and cleanly. The older two Mobians also took care that Tails, Shahra and Amy didn't have to see their death – Sonic knew that Amy and Shahra would've been horrified and as for Tails…well, despite Mobians being intelligent, sophisticated people for the most part, Sonic knew that they'd also retained a good part of their feral instincts. The spectrum started out harmlessly with wagging tails, raised fur, or rodents like him occasionally having an uneasy feeling around their natural predators but ended with oddballs getting sick from eating raw meat because they felt compelled to revert to the 'eating style of their ancestors'. You never knew what triggered it and so Sonic didn't wish to expose Tails to anything that might stir any remnants of his vulpine hunting instincts, no matter how deep they might've been buried. The two older Mobians carefully skinned and prepared the rabbits, Knuckles helping Sonic along a little. When they finally returned with the meat of the unfortunate rodents stuck on three sticks ready to be roasted on a fire, it actually looked quite civilized.

"Hey there! No chili dogs, but this'll do, right?" Sonic asked, grinning as they put the sticks on the handles to both sides of their campfire. Tails nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! I'm starving, I can't wait!"

"_Master?" _Shahra asked at this point in his mind, having returned to the ring after the hedgehog got back, but now sounding worried. _"Those were…bunnies, right?" _

_Yeah, I caught some rabbits, _Sonic replied soundlessly. _We all needed the food. _

"_But you mustn't kill bunnies around here! They are-!" _

_Shahra, please. _Sonic cut her off. _I hate killing things as much as you do and I feel bad enough about having to do this already. But tonight, and especially for Tails, fruit and seaweed alone just won't cut it. _

"_But-!" _

_Please, Shahra. Let it rest. _

The genie dropped the topic unhappily, but was unable to refuse a direct order from her master. Sonic sighed and relaxed. The stars were coming out and this seemed to become a nice night after all…the soft sound of the waves lapping onto the shore could even be quite peaceful if he absolutely could ignore the mounting dread of having to go in there tomorrow.

He tried to focus on the faces of the group instead. All of them were gnawing quite happily on the roasted meat wrapped and seasoned with the dried salty algae, occasionally sipping a bit of the coconut milk, the shine of the fire playing on their faces. Sonic smiled. In fact, there was only one component missing for a true camping occasion…

"Okay, guys," he started as everybody had eaten to their stomach's content. "Who's for a proper sing-song, then?"

Knuckles' eyes widened. "By the Master Emerald, _no._"

xxx

"_We can make it if we all stick together, we won't give up, not ever...!" _

Knuckles _groaned_.

A few of those lyrics they had actually thought up during their journey to fight against Metal Sonic gone rogue two years ago, when he had joined Sonic and Tails in a team – although initially all he had been looking forward to was acquiring some rare treasure or other in the Casino zones. But one thing had led to another, and…

Knuckles privately thought the hedgehog had spiked their drinks on the night they wound up concocting that song.

"_Knuckles is by our siiiide, makes this a safer riiiiiide…!" _

By now the echidna wished he really _was _master of a magic ring, so he could maybe encase them in a soundproof bubble or something.

"_We'll__ save this world and teach that Eeeggman a lesson…!"_

"…no that's not right. Should be 'Erazor', right?" Amy frowned.

"_The secret is sharing our- _wait, you're right. But 'Erazor' is one syllable too long," Tails pointed out.

"Screw it, just take the 'E' off. It's a silly name anyway." Sonic shrugged.

"All right! _–save this world and teach that 'raaaazor a lesson! To-ge-ther, we can, overcome all the odds…!" _And they started right off again. By now the echidna wondered whether it would make sense to set one of his dreadlocks aflame to distract himself.

"…_can't stop us 'cause together we're all strong! OH YEAH!" _ they chorused, high-fiving each other immediately after the song.

"What next?" Tails asked, grinning.

_Please not…anything but…_Knuckles mentally pleaded, but…

"Oh! I know!" Sonic piped up, and immediately suggested a new song that was greeted by much enthusiasm.

"_Sonic boom, sonic boom, __SONIC BOOOOOM…!" _

Knuckles curled up_. Anything but THAT. I hate you, fate. _

"_Trouble keeps you running faster – save the planet from disaster…!" _

It had to be said here that their singing wasn't actually that _bad_. Quite the contrary, in fact – Sonic was rather musically talented, playing the guitar, break dancing and jobbing as a DJ from time to time when he wanted. He also claimed he had a long time ago been the lead vocalist of a small local band called the 'Sonic Underground' before saving the planet had become his primary occupation and he was no longer able to keep regular appointments like rehearsals. His light but strong and steady voice, backed by the higher ones of Amy, Tails and Shahra (who was learning the new strange lyrics quickly and with much enthusiasm) were in fact in a rather nice harmony.

But still. It wasn't the tunes or the singing in general or the voices of the singers-

"_Toot toot Sonic warrior, deep in space and time, __toot toot sonic warrior-!" _

…but rather the total _inanity_ of the lyrics that got to him.

"_Doom room, cosmic zoom, heads up, Jake – it's SONIC BOOM!" _the four singers enthused at this moment, only proving Knuckles' point further. Privately, Sonic thought the lyrics were just as godawful as the echidna made them out to be, but he just liked singing in general, so he didn't really mind.

"Hey, Knucklehead!" he called over once that particular song had ended, the others catching their breath for a moment. "Why don't you join us? Come on, you know it's fun!"

"That's what _all_ people say who want to get sane persons to play singstar. No, thanks," the echidna grumbled.

"Come on, we'll even sing one of them weird songs that you always listen to!" Sonic offered, throwing himself into a rather silly-looking rapper-pose. "_Here I come, rougher than the rest of them, the best of them, tougher than leather. You can call me Knuckles, unlike Sonic I don't chuckle-!" _

"Finish that goddamn song, hedgehog, and I'll consider your death a mercy killing," Knuckles grated, inwardly wondering why he hadn't already levelled that human record company that had produced these unasked-for 'theme songs' for all of them in the first place. Sonic laughed.

"Okay, okay, sure, be that way. But you're missing out – and me 'n the others ain't planning on stopping any time soon, ya know?" Sonic winked and Knuckles frowned even deeper.

"Do what you want. _I'll _be going to sleep."

"Okay…we'll try to keep it down then, if we can," Sonic promised half-heartedly before giving the echidna a thumbs-up and zipping back to the others who were just busy teaching Shahra a new song. The genie looked happier than Sonic had ever seen her, which he considered a personal success. And while he felt just a little bit guilty for depriving Knuckles of his snoozies, this was definitely worth it.

"Okay, which one next? None of Shadow's I hope, they're all total downers…"

"Nope!" Tails smiled. "But how about 'Live and Learn'? We just finished teaching Shahra the lyrics!"

"Awesome! Let's start! And a one, and a two, and a one-two-"

About ten metres away from them, the wish for self-preservation finally won over his desire for dignity and Knuckles fell asleep right after sticking two of his dreadlocks into his own ears.

_To be continued…

* * *

_Heeeh, hope you liked! As for me, I have an Ipod filled with music with horrid lyrics and I love every song. ^^ My fav is probably Never Turn Back (Sonic is just jealous, not all of Shadow's songs are depressing :P) or Live and Learn, tho...XD I love the Sonic series for having songs with vocals. :) If you read, please review? :D


	27. Down The Rabbit Hole

**Review Replies!**

**NUTCASE71733: **Heh, a fellow inmate. :P No worries, I do agree with you about Shadow's songs (*I* like them) but Sonic's jealous and won't admit it. ;) Thanks for the comment!

**Witch O' Miracles: **Yay, *another* MEGA-review!^^ Massive thanks! Title of last chapter was kudos to Little Kuriboh and his Yugioh-Abridged Series episode 'Card Games at 10 000 feet', glad you liked it! As for crackish Knuxamy and Sharah/Amy/Sonic triangle, prepare for both coming up and one of them in this chappie already...;) And if you think Sonic's got something on Knux *now*, then just wait for my next story victim...:P (also, half an hour Aquatic Mine? I have NIGHTMARES after being stuck for an entire hour in that space hell looking for those horrid splinters...XD) But now for the actual chapter...yeah, what was it with those rabbits...? ;)

**petite-dreamer: **Knuxamy, huh? Hmm, I think you'll find this chappie interesting, then...;) And hoo, boy, everybody and their cat is asking the Shadow question now, where did I go wrong with the foreshadowing? XD While the lyrics of Sonic songs are not about to win the Pulitzer prize any time soon, tho, I actually found it awesome in Sa2B (my first sonic game) to have lyrics in the background while playing at all. Thanks for your review, I always look very much forward to your input. Amy and her theme song *does* sound very cool...;)

**DgShadowChocolate: **Blame SEGA. XD And as for the rabbits, just read and find out...

**Ri2: **Yes. Yes, she is. I like my female characters this way. :P Big?! Why would you...? Well, maybe. ;) NO idea how they justified Knuckles up there in the game, tho. :P Reason for the rabbits coming up...Knuckles a rapper? Hm, maybe they assumed that with atztec architecture, jamaican dreadlocks, and an australian animal species he didn#t have enough of an identity crisis already:P Which song did terrify you?^^

**Lupus Silvae: **Heh, cool!^^ And yeeah, the pirate levels. (twitches) those will be..."fun"... I have all the songs as well, save for Knux' ones - don't go in for rap much, but loved the silliness they create in the fic. XD Thanks for your comment!^^

**janiemanie1993**: It is. And the other ones aren't much better. :P And yes, Amy can be very terrifying. XD As for Shadow....hmm, IS he gonna show up? XD I wouldn#t recommend learning German, tho - wayy too hard a language and everyone here speaks English anyway. I usually only lhave bothered to learn languages of countries where people don't speak English so well...as in, French (who refuse), Spanish (school situation not that great in South America...) and Japanese (whyyy are all these doujinshi never, EVER translated?!) But hey, any new language can be interesting! ;)

**Teribane: **Woah. NOVEL! XD Thanks!^^ Yeah, as for 'Life…' that timeline IS a bit messed up. There'll probably be an explanation in the last chapter. :P But yes, I do notice my writing is getting better…the first chapters of 'life…' make me cringe now! XD Robotnik and the Doctor from Doctor Who…priceless, yes. :P Metal Sonic is a great character, tho, if you know what to do with him. ;) As for Five Things…well, you'll like this chapter of 'Burning Arrow, I promise! Thanks for all those reviews, despite your limited internet time, I know what that's like. J

**Wirewolf: **oooh, yes, Monty python. Awesome guys. XD No worries about poor Knuckles, tho, apart from Tails I usually make sure the pain is distributed evenly… :P Thanks for commenting!

**Chaser Warring on Everything: **(bows) Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the little sing-along.^^ If any improvements for this chapter spring to mind, I#m always interested to hear them. J

**YumeTakato: **Sonic die? Now THERE'S an idea…ahem. XD Glad you like it, I'm sure even I couldn't keep sane very long in the company of our heroes…;)

**Skyblaze: **(nearly spills drink over keyboard) Woman! DON'T write stuff like that in the reviews for this account! (still sniggering) XD And yup, Insane!Amy is currently trying to give Shadow a run for his badass title…:P And…more of my fics? Didn't you hear that I was planning to retir-oh, wait. April Fool's over.^^

**Anonymous: **Heh, long review, wow, thanks! But…you wouldn't really want to call Amy from this fic 'old', would ya? I mean, not to her face….XD Tsundere FTW, of course. As for what was up with the rabbits…read on and see! ;) And you know, so far, Knuckles hasn't yet discarded his Sindbad attire, ya know? And of course, Sonic music. No chapter written without that stuff playing in the background. ;)

**star's dreams:** Yes, Sonic *should* worry about the bunnies they ate. ;) Read on to find out…and thanks for commenting!

**amyfan4ever: **(bows) always happy to please. Of course, there's also *other* fics of mine to read if you mind the waiting – hint hint, nudge nudge. XD On your advice I went and watched the three minutes thing btw, I already knew the other works of the maker and thought it was hilarious again. Thanks for commenting and bringing that to my attention! J

**TorpeGraveYard1031: **(who's Torpe…?) No worries, I think we ALL know the lyrics…hahahah! XD I listen to them quite often while running, there's nothingquite like the lyrics of 'Super Sonic Racing' to keep your feet right on track- *gets bricked as well*

**CerberAsta: **of course they are. (nods) The rating has since been upped to T – if not for the contents of last chapter, then surely for the contents of this one. . Which words were you referring to, though? 'Kill'? I think other than that nothing offensive was yet in there, or did I overlook something?

**St.**** Noof: **Knuckles as a country listener? O.o That would be an idea…I'd have thought he might listen to Taiku drums (the Japanese drumming music) since it could suit his warrior spirit, but who really knows what music tastes lurk in the heart of echidnas…? Happy you loved the little in-between fluff, tho, I do like so writing it.^^ Unfortunately, I like cliffies just as much, so there you go. XD

**FantomoDrako: **Course they are!^^ And I actually think a lot of them are quite catchy rock/pop. J As for that 'toot toot' bit, I usually try to sing 'Su-per' instead though, toot toot just makes me wanna cry…XD And as for getting distracted from torturing Knuckles – now orries, one HUGE distraction heading right their way! Thanks for the review, again! J

**Ngandu the Croc: **Totally! XD Thanks for the compliment on my Amy…^^ I do love scary characters too much. ;) Had to laugh very much at your Murphy line, there. XD Yeah, he has now that you say it, hasn't he…but as for the bunnies, only one way to find out, isn't there? :P Thanks for the massive and nice review, have fun with the new chapter, please. J

**Avitala: **Heh, thanks! And no worries, I'm sure Knuckles will survive even this…XD

**TenkaCat: **Heh, that means 'Angel Cat', doesn't it? Cute!^^ And you're a non-game player, huh? No worries, catering especially for you here…;) Thanks for your review! :D

**Asher Tye: **(bows) I take that as a compliment. :P

**DuneHazard: **Glad to hear it. XD

**Sonic#1: **Sorry, everyone's fair game. If there is a god, I'm sure they have a sense of humour, too. :P

**MegaMagikarp: **No worries, he's gonna *regret* it...

**Nemiah: **Heh, it's cool, this one will be finished. Thanks for your review! :P

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, usually I avoid self-reference, or make it really sneaky. This chapter will be the one exception. Not saying you absolutely *have* to have read my other stories for this, but if you took a peek at 'Tales of Shadows' and 'Five Things That Never Happened' before this chappie, it would be reeally helpful...I apologize, but I couldn't resist. :P

**Di****sclaimer: If I owned this game, the following chapter would have placed it on the psycho-shelf…**

**Chapter 27: Down the Rabbit Hole**

„_Tails! Tails, where ARE you?!" Sonic called again and again, cupping his hands in front of his mouth to make his voice even louder, but to no avail. The little fox didn't answer. _

"_Damn." Sonic sighed in frustration, worry clenching up his stomach. He had no idea where he was or what dangers could be surrounding them. Technically, he knew the young kit had already grown strong and more than capable of handling a lot of things on his own, but still…the blue hedgehog supposed that being a big brother was something that you simply couldn't outgrow. He probably would still be able to worry about Tails if they both reached ninety and then constantly remind him not to forget his false teeth. _

"_Which we _won't_, if I don't manage to find him. TAILS!" Sonic muttered to himself before starting to call out again. But the thick green foliage of the jungle surrounding him on all sides muffled the sounds and swallowed his voice right up. The brilliant emerald canopy probably also meant that Tails stood no chance of finding Sonic himself by flying high overhead. Drawing another deep breath, the hedgehog squared his shoulders and started walking again. Where _were_ they? The last thing Sonic remembered was him and Tails being in the Mystic Ruins in the fox' workshop. The plan for the day had been to test out a sort of chip clipped into the inside of the ear that would enable the user to understand any and all languages they'd come across. Tails had been working on them for nearly a year and had produced two prototypes which he wanted to give a trial with Sonic. The hedgehog had been supposed to Chaos Control them far away – _really_ far away, the fox kit had even hitched the Emerald up to some sort of power enhancer so they would have been able to jump to another continent –the idea being, they would be able to try and talk to people speaking another language entirely. But _then_, there had been a power surge, and an explosion and the feeling of your insides being ripped apart and drawn down a drain…_

And then I woke up _here_, in the jungle, with no idea where I am and even less of an inkling where Tails could be. Well, _shit__, Sonic thought_. This forest does seem vaguely familiar, though…

_Which was when he stopped and stared at the giant temple suddenly looming before his eyes on a clearing. _

"_What the – the echidna ruins?!" Sonic exclaimed. That would mean he hadn't even travelled very far and was barely fifty miles from Tails' workshop! He could even have run into Big while still thinking he was on another continent! Sonic laughed out aloud, before something else caught his eye and he abruptly stopped. _

_Yes, these were the mystic echidna ruins he had entered more than three years ago when they had been fighting against Chaos, but they had changed – these weren't ruins anymore, they looked brand__ new and well-maintained. Barely any moss covered the stones yet and the broken steps and chunks missing from the murals had been repaired. And now that he thought of it, if this was the jungle Big the Cat lived in, he would have had to come across a pathway long ago already, the Zone was practically littered with them ever since the humans had started exploring it…_

_Sonic abruptly took off and raced toward the cliff he knew had to be close by. Trees became a blur as he dodged around them with single-minded agility, lianas tearing over sharp spines when he spin-dashed his way through the mess trying to stop him and didn't slow down until he was right at the edge of the sheer drop that would enable you to look down into the valley that contained Station Square. _

_And Station Square wasn't there anymore. _

"_Ooookay…" Sonic took a step back, now just starting to get a little bit freaked out. He could definitely recognize Emerald Coast's coastline from here, which had to mean that the city had really vanished, just like the pathways and he thought probably Big's hut as well. But the echidna temple still stood in all its long-ago splendour, which could only mean…_

"_Tikal?" Sonic called out tentatively. "You there? Is that some crazy dream again where you show me something freaky in the past and then I wake up and everything is okay?" He paused, before adding, "Please appear now and say that it is." _

_Nothing happened. _

"_Damn," Sonic said again and really meant it. _

_Had he travelled in time? Was this Mephiles' doing? Chaos Control gone wrong? Another genie or sorceress asking for his assistance? Well, with the way his life had been going recently it could be any one of a dozen things, up but not limited to, blue policeboxes. _

"_I just hope Tails is okay…" he muttered to himself again, ears folding flat against his skull in worry, but was interrupted. _

"N-no! Help! Anything but that, please! HELP! HELP!_" _

_Sonic's head flew around, his ears at once wide open and swivelling toward the source of the noise. It hadn't been Tails, but the voice of a young female, her high-pitched shrieking indicating that she was terrified for her very life. _

_Sonic took off like a bullet. It didn't matter whether this was a dream, a fantasy or a different dimension entirely, he wouldn't let anybody get hurt if he was there to prevent it. He hurled himself over a stream, passed by where Big's hut would have been and came to a screeching halt in another clearing, which was smaller, but held the first people he'd seen ever since he woke up. _

"_What is going on here?" Sonic demanded as soon as he'd stopped, knowing that taking the initiative was half the battle won. Tails had told him that the chip also had a limited sending range, meaning that whoever was around him should be able to understand him as well. (This had been followed by a longer explanation on the fox' side of electric impulses in the brain, certain radiowaves and the make-up of a synapse as well as the meaning of Telepathy, but Sonic had mostly drowned that out and afterwards patted Tails' head and told him that if he ever invented a chip that would enable _normal_ people to understand all of his technobabble, _*then*_ he would be a genius.) _

_The __group on the clearing turned toward him. Sonic noted that they were all Mobians, quite a few wolves, interspersed with an occasional fox, bob cat, one or two reptiles – Sonic wasn't that great at identifying species that weren't mammals – a panther, a dark-furred bat, a couple of spiders and even a large bear. One of the wolves was holding down a squirming rabbit girl who seemed to be bleeding heavily from her thigh, indicating that she was the one who had screamed. Sonic noted with relief that it wasn't either Vanilla or Cream. _

"_Another rodent?" One of the wolves cocked his head__, regarding Sonic curiously with the others. The hedgehog was getting ever more weird vibes from the maybe twenty Sapients on the clearing, but resisted the urge to take a step backwards. Instead he narrowed his eyes and raised his quills a little, an instinctive reaction of his body to appear more intimidating. _

"_That's _Sonic the Hedgehog_ to you," he shot back, but even the dropping of his name seemed to have no effect, cementing his theory further that he had landed far, far away from home. The others just stared at him ever more suspiciously, their gazes resting on his shoes and gloves. Sonic now noted that all of them indeed seemed a bit feral, barely any of them wearing clothing and their tangled pelts a far cry from his own groomed and trimmed appearance. Even the females had barely more than three garments __made from rags between them, their fur appearing a lot thicker than that of the girls Sonic was used to. Hadn't a teacher long ago told him that Mobians used to have longer fur way back when before they had chosen to wear clothes…? _

_At that point the girl cried out again in pain and Sonic immediately snapped back into the present. "Let her go!" He demanded. "Whatever has she done to you?" _

_This for some reason provoked a barking laugh from the assembled crowd. _

"_Whatever has she done?! She's a rabbit! What are you, stupid or suicidal?" The bob cat asked with a sharp, yellow-toothed grin. Her golden eyes glowed with wicked amusement and she added, "Or has your crazy fur colour gotten to your head?" _

"_My crazy-?!" Sonic repeated, dumb-founded for a moment. These people were about to kill that girl or worse (or, technically, were about to receive the thrashing of their life from Sonic, they just didn't know it yet) and they were talking about fur colours?! _

_Then again, Sonic also couldn't help but notice that nearly the entire group indeed had pelts in the hue of their feral ancestors – brown and green colours to blend in with the natural environment. Nowadays, technicolour Mobians were no rarity any more ever since evolution had stopped weeding out anyone who couldn't hide in a mud ditch and instead favoured those who looked especially cool when bathed in shining disco lights, but these people didn't look exactly like the knew the meaning of _'cosmopolitan'.

"_We should do him a favour and kill him," the bear announced, taking a step into Sonic's direction. _

_One of the reptiles, a purple lizard, briefly shot his tongue out. "I don't know. What if hiss lack of fear iss due to rabiesss?" _

"_Excuse me?!" Sonic shot back, not exactly sure why that lizard looked somewhat familiar (and was already getting on his nerves). "The only one who's in need of a shot for insanity here is you! Now let her go already if she hasn't done anything!" _

"_My, isn't he cute." The bob cat grinned. "M__aybe he's her mate or something, that would explain why he isn't running away. I say we finish her off and kill him, too." _

"_Sure. Let's flank him. Rough, you kill the rabbit!" The panther addressed first the golden-eyed feline, then the wolf concerned with pressing the rodent girl to the ground. The canine named Rough nodded. "Yeah. Go catch him. And as for you, pretty…" _

_Sonic couldn't believe his eyes as the wolf opened his maw and apparently was ready to bite the girl in the neck. The rabbit screamed out in fear… _

_Both panther and bob cat shot forward to trap Sonic in between them, but the hedgehog was already long gone. Sonic had reached the other side of the clearing in half a heartbeat and it took even less time for his sneaker to connect forcefully with Rough's side, the kick sending the wolf tumbling away before his teeth could even touch the girl. The group's heads snapped around, their wide eyes showing the astonishment of everyone confronted for the first time with the speed of the fastest thing alive. Sonic bared his own small teeth, an unconsciousness reaction to the feral hostility surrounding him. He stood in front of the prone, shocked girl, his quills now fully raised. _

"_You're sick, all of you. Get the hell away from here before I'll forget myself!" _

"_You…you dare to attack a wolf?!" a bigger member of the grey-furred canines barked. "You just sealed your death sentence!"_

_Sonic barely had time to prepare before they rushed him. He was used to people fighting differently – usually, there would be hesitation, people would try to see if the _other_ members of the group weren't keener on promotion and they could maybe, you know, attack when it isn't dangerous anymore or something. Usually, people attacked with a bit of order. Usually, people attacked with punches or kicks – Sonic had even encountered a range of martial artists before, who either recognized that trying to throw something that has spikes everywhere was generally painful or that even a black belt didn't help much when your opponent threw kicks faster than the speed of sound. _These_ Mobians, however… _

_Sonic felt like he was faced with a pack of rabid feral dogs. (Which he had already been. He still vividly recalled when a very young Tails had run toward him screaming, the entirety of a human fox hunting party on his trail…) But these were supposed to be sapient Mobians. Yet they still_ _lunged, snarled, slashed and snapped at him as if he was the Gingerbread man who'd walked into an Overeaters Anonymous convention. _

_Sonic dodged the first assault and the second attacker caught a faceful of spines, sending the fox away howling with pain. Kicks and punches of the hedgehog landed in bellies, faces and more than one of his attackers didn't get up again, clutching at their knees or wrists groaning. Sonic however didn't move an inch from his position in front of the rabbit, who was watching the hero of Mobius fight with wide, torpid brown eyes. The bear was the last to go, who had given Sonic – who was unwilling to kill – some trouble, the hedgehog's small fists and feet standing little chance against the bulk of the grizzly. However, even that problem was solved when eventually, the blue speedster simply raced up a tree, spun in the air, and landed on the skull of the large mammal with both his heels outstretched. __The bear fell backwards and touched ground at the same time as Sonic, who was finally able to go back to the rabbit without anyone still there or conscious enough to bother him anymore. _

"_Hey there. You alright?" He asked, helping her sit. "It's okay. I stopped them from killing you, you're safe now," he said in the soothing voice he usually adopted for recent victims of Robotnik. "Why don't you tell me your name?" he suggested. _

"_Bu-bunnie, but…" _

"_Bunnie! That's great, I'm Sonic. We're friends already, see? Now here, let me help you stand so I can bring you home…" the hedgehog chattered on, knowing that enough talking would eventually get through the shock from experience. "How's that leg of yours? Can you walk? You haven't seen a two-tailed fox by any chance, by the way?" _

"_What?" the rabbit called Bunnie blinked at the last question, but let Sonic drape her arm over his shoulders and made an effort to get up. The blue hedgehog noticed she was a very pretty girl at that, her slender, amber-furred body feeling soft against his. What had they thought he was, her mate? Sonic snorted briefly, thinking that Bunnie probably already had one, if not a dozen suitors. Now she was standing a bit shakily while she leaned on him, trying to put weight on her injured leg. _

"_You defeated all of them," she stated, looking at the few unconscious Mobians still lying on the clearing, the rest having fled. Sonic nodded. _

_"Yeah. I did warn them, though," he pointed out. _

"_But…you're a hedgehog, right?" the rabbit still sounded more freaked out than re-assured. _

"_Uhm, last time I checked, yeah," Sonic joked weakly. "What, you know any other species with awesome quills? Porcupines don't count, they got a way longer tail," he added, giving her a small grin. _

"_Yeah, but…hedgehogs are like...rodents."_

"_Sort of, I guess," Sonic replied, not sure where this impromptu biology exam was coming from. "Eh, look, no matter my species, I need to take you somewhere. Where do you live?" She pointed and they started hobbling off. "Okay, that's good. Let's take you back to your family. Why were these people after you anyway? I hope I haven't just rescued a convict," he gave a small laugh. _

"_What do you mean, why were they after me? They are predators," the girl replied, confused and Sonic had to bite back an annoyed groan. Didn't this girl care about anything but races? He tried to change the topic, not least because he now noticed that the wound on her leg was bleeding quite badly. _

"_Hey, uh, your leg okay? What bit you? Any animals in this forest we should look out for?" _

_Now it was her turn again to shoot a glance that suggested the hedgehog was a bit slow on the uptake. _

"_Well, the _wolves_, of course. And what else what would we be looking out for except the ones you just fought?" _

"_Wait, you're saying one of the guys just now bit you? Like that?" Sonic asked, having stopped and pointing at the brown-furred thigh. "Why on Mobius would he _bite_ you? Are they some weird, I dunno, vampire sect or something?" _

"_A what? You're strange," Bunnie replied, looking into his eyes slightly disturbed. "No, he bit me because they wanted to eat me, of course." _

_Sonic nearly dropped the girl. _

And then a scream sounding almost like Amy's tore through the forest and the entire jungle was suddenly replaced by a star-dotted black sky and desert sand in his face.

xxx

„_Freeze! Don't anybody move, this is a robbery! Down on the floor, all of you!" _

_Tails and his friends whirled around. Right in the door of the burger joint they had wanted to eat lunch at stood a purple weasel brandishing a dangerous-looking gun. Tails could feel his blood turn to ice and his bones freeze as if they were ready to splinter from the cold of his fear. This was the escaped convict they had mentioned on the news. He was a sociopathic killer who would murder people_ just because they were alive. _Customers and waitresses all threw themselves down hurriedly as he strode in with a swagger, terrified of attracting his attention. _

"_Fuck. Get _down_!" Manic hissed in panic, dragging a catatonic Tails to the floor with him. The green hedgehog and his best buddy Vector the Crocodile had only recently become Tails' friends at Station Square High, the fox cub always a bit of a nerdish loner before. Now all three of them were flat on the floor, hoping against hope they might be able to escape from this with their lives…not for the first time, Tails desperately wished he was as strong and cool as his fictional videogame idol, Sonic the Hedgehog, but he was only Miles Prower, tinkering with toys and living above the magic shop of his uncle Merlin. And right now his muzzle was also pressed into the dirty ketchup- and grease-stained floor and fearing the weasel would shoot him just because his heart was hammering so loud he surely had to be annoyed by it…. _

_But no matter how wretched he had felt before, nothing could have prepared him for what he heard next. _

"_I think I want some food before I leave this place…" the drawling voice of the weasel announced. "You there, cutie. Go get me some food, will ya?" _

"_CREAM! NO!" _

_It was the sound of Ms Vanilla's voice and Tails, horrified, couldn't help but glance up. The weasel had brutally grabbed his best friend Cream who apparently had sat with her mother only a couple of tables away and he only hadn't seen her yet. _

"_Anybody asked for your input, rabbit?!" the weasel slapped the older bunny violently across the face, knocking her out and ignoring the outcry of the daughter who still dangled from the grasp he had of her dress. He dropped her to the floor. _

"_If you don't want your mama to die, sugar ears, I'd suggest you run along and get me something that classifies as food in this place," he suggested pleasantly, before dropping himself into the now empty booth and placing his feet on the table. "Ahh, this is the life…" _

_Tails' heart almost broke as Cream started to cry in total fear and then everything went black. _

"_H-here is what you wanted, pl-please don't hurt anybody…" the rabbit girl whimpered as she had retrieved the food from the counter the weasel wanted and he took it with a toothy smile, the giant incisor sticking out of his mouth glinting. _

"_Aw, thanks, darlin'. Now why don't you sit here and give me some company-?" the weasel started, his eyes darkening dangerously, but then a new voice interrupted him. _

"_I suggest you don't trouble the young lady. I promise that you will find _my_ company much more entertaining instead, Mr…Nack, I presume?" _

"_My reputation precedes me, I see," the weasel replied languidly, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer who had gently forced his way in front of the rabbit. "Now who the hell are you?" _

"_My name isn't important," the small fox smiled with the self-assured serenity of a predator that belied his young age. "But I'd like to propose a little game if you wish for entertainment." _

"_Or I could just shoot you right now, you freak," the weasel replied dryly. There was something unnerving about the fox, not even mentioning the two tails. His fur lay in an unnatural way, tufts of it on the back of his head and on his spine standing up like a hedgehog's spikes. His voice sounded much too deep for one so young and those crimson eyes didn't look as if they should ever belong into the face of a child. Not to mention his odd sense of fashion, shoes much too bulky for anyone to wear, with nozzles in the soles that looked almost like…jets? Nack frowned_.

"_Ah, but that would hardly be a novelty," the fox kit retorted, sliding into the bench opposite the weasel and favouring him with a sharp-toothed grin of his own. "Why don't you just listen to my proposal and decide afterwards whether to shoot me or not? In fact, my idea of entertainment _includes_ you trying to shoot me…" _

"_Say what?!" the weasel almost barked a laugh. This guy was even more insane than he himself! Now he was truly intrigued. "Alright then, freak. Shoot." _

_The fox' lips twitched as if he found that choice of words amusing for some reason. _

"_I would like to play a game…the rules are simple. We sit opposite each other, as we do now, and you get one chance to kill me at point blank range. But, one chance only. If you miss…your life is forfeit." _

_This time, Nack couldn't suppress a high-pitched, somewhat insane laugh. "You're serious! You're actually serious about this! Fuckin' hell, you're a nutcase, fox-freak, you know that?!" _

"_I have heard you fancy yourself quite a good shot," the kit continued calmly as if he hadn't even heard him, his fingertips steepled like they were discussing the wine choice. "Care to prove it to me?" _

"_He's going to die," Manic hissed to Vector on the floor. "He's going to die and we can't do a damn thing!" _

"_But he…but he…just got up and _walked_ over to him…" the crocodile whispered back, not being able to comprehend Tails' suicidal actions at all. And they could only hear and not see what was going on from their prone position on the floor…_

"_Sure, whatever you say, psycho. I've never killed a mental before, this'll be fun…" Nack chuckled again, cocking his gun as he spoke. Still, the fox' composure didn't seem to shatter. _

"_So we are agreed on the rules, then? My life against yours. Also, you may choose to try to kill me in whatever way you wish. I feel like I should warn you that shooting isn't always the best option, though…it may be easy murder, but it doesn't always work," the teen looked at Nack steadily as he spoke, the gun now pointing straight at his face. _

"_Yeah, rules are fine. And in case you're trying to talk me into putting my gun away – sorry, won't work." Nack grinned and shot. _

_Cream screamed. The window behind the booth shattered. Vector and Manic thought their hearts would stop… _

_And then the smoke cleared and Nack stared incredulously at the unscathed fox still sitting before him. _

"_I did warn you," the kit repeated right before his face contorted into a nasty smirk that held dark promises. "I dodge bullets." _

_And then Nack's eyes widened even more as suddenly he snipped his fingers and emerald fire started to crackle in the palm of his hand. _

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

_The weasel screamed as he died__…_and then for some reason sounded like Amy which was when Tails shrieked awake with sweat drenching his entire form.

xxx

„_Bye-bye, darling, Be careful, okay?" Amy asked and Knuckles smiled before kissing her. _

"_Sure I will. It's just a routine check because one of the alarms in Hidden Palace zone has gone off."_

"_I know," Amy sighed. "But be back soon, okay? Without you it's lonely up here…" _

"_Yeah," Knuckles answered briefly before striding away to his destination. He loved Amy and she loved him, but sometimes it was _hard_…_

_She had been the centre of social life in Knothole village, but she had followed him up here just because she couldn't stand to be without him, even if it meant a lonely life in the sky. _

Is this fair on her?_ Knuckles wondered time and time again as he hurried to where one of his traps had triggered an alarm, somewhere in the corridors leading to the chamber of the Master Emerald._ Should I dump her? Act like the total social recluse I am so she leaves me and finds someone else that could actually give her the life she deserves?_ He knew that that Sonic kid from Knothole loved her as well, but Amy had never given the poor crippled hedgehog in the wheelchair a second glance which just about broke the blue boy's heart. Knuckles knew because Sally, a squirrel who was both his and Sonic's friend, had told him. _

_But still, this was no time to be thinking of the total chaos that made up what he called his social life. This was a time to check whether the Emerald was all right. _

"_Probably just a feral rat again," muttered Knuckles under his breath, right before he turned a corner and suddenly found himself face to face with a mutant. _

"_What…?!" he gasped as he beheld one of the automated cages which for the first time ever had actually caught something. Someone. Inside it stood a small fox with two tails who was currently busy working on the lock of the cage with a rather complicated tool. For some reason he looked as familiar as if Knuckles had known him for years, but he didn't even know his name…the kit looked up as Knuckles stared at him. _

"_Oh. Hello." _

"_Who-who are you?" Knuckles demanded gruffly. The fox boy with the golden fur did not seem to be older than eight years, but this was no reason to go soft on him. If anything, the calm expression on the vulpine's face made Knuckles even more wary. _

"_My name is _Kitsune_, prince of thieves," the kit announced. "And *this* is a trap." _

"_What-?" Knuckles asked again, before a terrible agony suddenly exploded in his skull and he fell forward onto the hard stone floor. Somebody had hit him! But who-?_

"_Got him. How're you coming along with that lock?" an unknown, female voice asked, apparently addressing the kit in the cage. _

"_Almost done, Rouge. I'll be out in no time." _

"_Great. And then, that Emerald will belong to us …" _

_Knuckles vision faded and the last thing he heard was a pearling laughter as two slim legs in white boots stepped over him and the Queen of thieves spread her black bat wings. _

And then the echidna snapped awake with a gasp because the next scream came from reality.

xxx

"_There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" _

_Amy turned around and immediately her face lit up like a miniature sunrise as she saw that it had been Sonic addressing her. "Oh, hi! I didn't see you there, sorry! How are you?" she asked, skipping over to her hero, swinging her shopping bag. "How nice of you to be looking for me! What is it?" she asked, all eager to hear what the blue hedgehog had to say. For some reason, he didn't seem to look too happy, though._

"_You know what it is. You shouldn't be seeing him anymore. He's bad for you."_

"_See who?" Amy asked, confusion now showing on her face. "What are you talking about?" _

"_Well, who would I be talking about?" Sonic asked sarcastically. "Shadward, of course." _

"_Shadward…?" Amy repeated, dumbfounded, then shrieked as suddenly an arm materialized around her waist and dragged her backwards. "Aaaah! What the-?!" _

"_You here again, Dog__-hog? Didn't I tell you to keep away?" Shadow's voice growled behind her, pressing Amy against him protectively as he did so. _

"_Like hell I'm going to keep away!" Sonic snapped. "You only want to turn her into one of you and I will prevent that!" _

"_I love Bellamy more than anything in the world. I'd _never_ hurt her," Shadow hissed, pressing Amy now so tightly against his chest it was, ironically, very painful. _

"_Shadow, what the hell?! You _don't_ love me! We're friends!" Amy protested, not understanding this at all. She tried to wriggle free of the black hedgehog's grasp but found to her irritation that this was impossible; for some reason his arms were rock-hard like marble – well, if marble came in black and furry variants at any rate – and he didn't even seem to notice her struggles. _

"_Don't be silly. Of course we love each other, Bellamy." Shadow chuckled into her ear. "Didn't I tell you? 'And so the lion fell in love with the lamb'…" _

"_Shadow, have you gone completely _nuts_?" Amy asked, now beyond irritated. "We're both _*hedgehogs_*, in case it escaped your notice," she scathed. "And now Sonic has finally expressed some interest for me which I have been waiting for for _years_, so will you *please* stop trying to ruin that moment?!" _

"_Oh, Bellamy, you silly female," Shadow purred. "I wouldn't ever let the wolf-boy reject be alone with you, you know that." _

"_Sonic as a _wolf_?!" Amy asked, incredulous now. "That is beyond a doubt the silliest idea I've ever-!" _

"_And besides, Janic isn't in love with you, he loves the freaky mutant hybrid vampire fetus you're carrying inside you, silly. Don't you know?" Shadow asked, giving her his trademark crooked smile and playfully poking one of his fingers into her lower abdomen. Amy's purse (and jaw) hit the floor. _

"_SAY WHAT?!" _

"_As a werewolf, not only do I 'imprint' on newborns, I am also telepathic and like cliffdiving," Sonic pointed out cheerfully. "Also, I can do 'fetch'."_

"Screw _werewolves, why am I suddenly supposed to be _PREGNANT_?!" _

"_What, have you completely forgotten that I am a vampire and we had hot, steamy, biologically impossible off-screen sex?" the black hedgehog asked, genuinely surprised. "It was after I played vampire baseball with my parents Professor Carlisle__ and Black Desmée__, and my siblings Eggmet, Marialie, Eyelice and Metal Jasnic, my vampire family, " he offered helpfully. _

"_That…that can't be true, this gotta be, I dunno, some bad fanfic, vampires don't exist, neither do werewolves…" Amy stammered, now limp in Shadow's strong grasp. He sighed._

"_I am nearly invincible, super-fast, super-strong and I live forever. You've seen that. What did you think it was?" _

"_Well, yeah, but that's because you're the Ultimate Lifeform, I thought…" Amy managed weakly, trying to hold on to the little bit of knowledge she thought she had and trying to ignore Sonic staring at her stomach, freaking her out. _

"_True," Shadow conceded. "But, how about _this_?" _

_And he stepped into the sunlight and sparkled. _

At which point Amy woke up with the loudest scream she had ever managed in her entire life.

xxx

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH-!"

"What?! What?! What's going on?!" Sonic was scrambling to his feet in panic after he had fallen out of his hammock, trying to comprehend the situation.

" -AAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!

All of his friends seemed disheveled and freaked out, Shahra waving her arms in a futile attempt to calm anyone down while Tails had curled up in his bedding and was hyperventilating, Knuckles was clutching at his head and looking around himself as if he didn't understand the world anymore, Sonic himself felt as if something terrible had happened just now but he couldn't recall what and Amy, well…

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!"

…Amy was screaming.

"AMY! SHUT UP!" Sonic yelled, not meaning to be mean, but knowing that quiet was definitely the first step back to order here. The pink girl broke her battle siren off and snapped her mouth shut, the sound of Sonic's voice probably having gotten through to her rather than his words. Her head snapped around and jade eyes instantly focused on his form.

"_SONIC!" _The pink hedgehog basically flew out of her hammock into his arms where she broke down sobbing. "Oh, Sonic, it was horrible! You were a wolf-thing and Shadow had gotten me pregnant and there was vampire baseball and you like cliff diving and-!" she babbled on into his chest fur totally terrified, leaving Sonic (who had been lost at 'vampire baseball') to wrap his arms around her in an instinctive reaction, rubbing her back like he had done so many times.

"Shh, it's okay," he managed, trying to get his own head sorted right before –

"_SONIC!_"

Tails tackled him around the waist, also intent on getting his share of trauma therapy, staring up in the hedgehog's face with wide eyes. "Can…can you hug me? Please?"

"Err, sure, kiddo," the hedgehog replied, wrapping his other arm around the kit and finally kneeling down on the floor to give both younger Mobians the chance to sit down. Raising his head, he called over to the fifth member of their group. "Hey, Knuckles! You okay there?"

"Ugh…" the echidna groaned, before pulling himself out of his hammock and coming over to the hedgehog. "What the hell happened, I think I had the weirdest of dreams…"

"You and me both, pal," Sonic replied grimly. "Although mine was more of a nightmare and looking at these two, I'd chance theirs were, too."

"I think Shadow _possessed_ me, Sonic," Tails mumbled into his big brother's fur at this point, "And there was a weird green hedgehog I didn't know and Nack wanted to kill me but then I shot him or Shadow shot him and he hit Vanilla, like before he was dead and…"

"It's okay, bro. It was only a dream," Sonic whispered into one large ear of the amber-furred head, wishing _he _had somebody to calm him down, too. Now that his own nightmare was coming back to him, he had a hard time suppressing the memories of the frightened girl's face and the idea that he had almost witnessed somebody eat _people _sickened him to the core…

"So what's your story?" the hero of Mobius asked, looking up the still standing echidna. Knuckles brushed at his dread locks.

"It was…weird. I…somebody tried to steal the Master Emerald and there was Tails, but he _wasn't _Tails, you know? And it all felt so _real…" _the Guardian trailed off, on purpose not mentioning that bit where he had kissed Amy in his dream which would only make him blush. Looking at the poor girl still clamped around Sonic's torso stammering about Shadow giving her a sparkly baby, it was probably wiser to leave her alone, at that.

"Yeah, for me too," Sonic agreed. "Like it could all possibly happen…somewhere."

"That weren't normal dreams, I don't think," Knuckles shook his head, also sitting down cross-legged in front of Sonic. "And I found in cases like this you just have to find someone who knows the likely explanation. Shahra!" he barked and the genie, who had been floating around in the background, flinched and then slowly glided toward them, looking unhappy.

"We all had the strangest nightmares," the echidna said, scrutinizing her face for any reaction. "And we only woke up just now because Amy screamed as if it was the second Coming of Chaos. What's going on?"

"Well, I'm sorry but I _did _try to warn you," the genie replied, biting her lip. Sonic frowned.

"Wait, what? You just told us I shouldn't have killed the rabbits. Were they sick and gave us indigestion or something?" Sonic raised an eye ridge, one hand unconsciously going to his stomach, but he did feel fine, not a pang of pain or nausea anywhere. Amy and Tails both seemed to have calmed down somewhat by now and had sat up to his sides, but they also didn't look sick apart from a slight paleness around their muzzles.

"No, that's not it." The genie shook her head. "But, see…you didn't eat ordinary bunnies, you ate _plot bunnies_."

There was a moment of silence.

"What."

The magical girl stared at four faces looking at her completely dumb-founded. She waved her hands a little. "Plot bunnies. Little fledgling ideas that could grow into entire stories, _novels_ one day. They're usually just a scene in an author's head, or a basic concept that could be explored, or a simple What-If universe, when people wonder how things could have turned out differently if only a single decision was reversed," she tried to explain.

"And we _ate_ them."

"Well…yes."

There was another moment of silence.

"I think my plot bunny was sick," Amy whimpered.

Sonic groaned. "Chaos! Plot holes, Writers' blocks, Mary Sues, yaoi sirens, stories going around stealing characters, now plot _bunnies _of all things, this place is freaking insane!"

Shahra smiled. "Welcome to the wonderful world of literature."

"Do we have to look out for anything else?" Sonic asked weakly. "Like, tripping over a misplaced period? Having to run from a censoring editor? Worrying about somebody making dog ears from all the pages?"

"No, not exactly."

"Well, _that'_s a relief." Sonic rolled his eyes in sarcasm.

"Although I would stay clear of the Grammar Nazis."

"Say what?!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!" Shahra seemed to actually suppress a giggle at this, and the blue hedgehog folded one ear down and perked the other up in question.

"Say…do you actually think this is funny?" he asked, but there was no accusation in his tone. Rather, a small smile tugged at his own lips as he realized that for one of the first times, the genie was actually amused.

"Well, yeah, a…little bit," Shahra admitted, but then downcast her glance immediately. "I'm sorry!"

"No, no, that's fine," Sonic assured her, now grinning himself. "It _is_ a bit funny, when you think of it. I mean, just as long as no-one actually got hurt. These stories _are_ completely non-real, right?" he asked as if to re-assure himself.

Shahra nodded. "Yes. Plot bunnies are creatures of fiction, of course."

"Right," Sonic nodded. "And there won't be any more freaky dreams if we stay clear of the bunnies from now on? There's no such thing as, I dunno, a crackfic nut or a drabble asparagus?"

"No." Shahra shook her head. "The fourth wall usually keeps those out."

"The what now? That is, on second thought never mind." Sonic waved her off. "I'm too tired for all that. I just want to go back to sleep." He yawned. "How about you two, ready to catch some more snoozies as well?" He asked, looking down at the two younger Mobians who had followed the exchange with no small amount of confusion. Now though, their answer was instant and simultaneous.

"_Only if we can sleep in your hammock_."

Sonic sighed.

"Hey Shahra, how about a bigger bed…?"

xxx

The morning came with grey skies and shrieking gales that let all four adventures wake early from the thundering of the sea close by and the wind pushing the sand into their faces. Sonic, Tails and Amy had slept in a huddle on a magicked mat on the floor while Knuckles had chosen to remain in his hammock, although he _had_ tied it into the trees suspiciously close to the others. Breakfast was a silent affair, none of them wanting to touch the leftover meat from yesterdays's dinner and even their appetite for the ever-present bananas and coconut bare of any enthusiasm. Sonic could barely get any food down, mostly because he couldn't focus on anything but the roaring of the water throwing itself in fury against the beach and his hydrophobia let his stomach knot itself so tightly there was scarcely space for any nourishments.

The day only improved when shortly after breakfast, it began to rain.

"Right. Better get going," Knuckles said curtly, burying the last scraps of their food and especially the pieces of fried meat as deep as possible. The Mobians nodded and, in single file, ascended out of the shrubs and grass that made up the dune landscape to the point where they would be able to look out onto the sea.

Their eyes grew as wide as power rings when they climbed the last sandy hill and before them saw a graveyard of ships.

The bay they faced was massive, measuring miles to either side. And it was filled with debris. There were ships everywhere, pieces of them floating in the water, rocked about by the waves. They were _proper _ships, too, ships that practically _screamed_ 'Ay me hearties!' when you only looked at them, all seeming to have escaped straight from a Disney movie. Some of them were connected by planks swimming in between them, some seemed to have crashed straight into the rocks of the cliffs at the side of the bay, others were apparently burning, small fires fighting for their crackling lives against the rain and the spray. The mutilated wooden bodies seemed not only to have hit this bay but were branching out into the ones left and right, so they didn't have a clear overview how many of them were there.

"Wow," breathed Tails, summing most of their thoughts up very succinctly. Shahra floated to their side.

"Tonight's storm must have caught them unawares, I think it must have been a lot stronger on the open sea. They were all blown into this bay."

"And somewhere in all this mess is one ship where the pirates who stole the water blue ring are?" Amy asked, wiping water out of her face, the rain running down her head in rivulets.

Shahra nodded. "Yes. We have to make our way from ship to ship. It has to be one of the non-damaged ones, because the owner of the ring would have been able to control the storm…"

"Gotcha." Sonic nodded and his emerald eyes glowed with determination as the hedgehog took his first stiff step downwards and toward the water, knowing that he had to face his biggest fear or the flame arrow in his chest would kill him either way. He grit his teeth.

"Let's face the pirate storm."

_To be continued…

* * *

_

Okay! Once again, I apologize for the shameless plugs, but I just wanted to take the opportunity to give you a sneak peek at some *actual* plot bunnies of mine (well...except for Amy's that is, even I have my limits XD) and maybe you even liked the ideas of one of them? :P Next up we will delve again into the game plot, though, when it's an entire level full of Pirates, waves, and real nightmares for Sonic...;) If you read, please review? :D I tried deleting the AFD chappie, but I think if you already reviewed this one, you have to go for an anonymous comment this time...good thing I accept those too. XD _  
_


	28. Pirate Storm

Review Replies!

**Unknownlight: **Hahah, you were one of the lucky few, kudos. :P Thanks for the review, tho, it's always nice to hear from a reader, even if they usually lurk around. ;) Yugioh season 0 is better than the rest of the series combined, IMO, but of course the Abridged Series by Little Kuriboh is the absolute best. ;) Sonic's dream might become a full-fledged fic…eventually. :P

**Luigifan1: **I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But it's just too much fun.^^

**Nemiah: **Heh, thanks for taking the effort to review anonymously! :D Yeah, Amy's plot bunnie *was* the weirdest, but also the one I really, really wanted to write. There's something about Twilight that just *screams* MOCK ME PLEASE! XD

**Ri2: **If you think Amy had a nightmare, wait what I got in store for Sonic during this chapter;)…thanks for the review, I promise I'll stop with the filler stuff now. XD

**NUTCASE1733: **Yeah, I'd like to write it one day. ;) Glad that you're now appropriately freaked out, and thanks for the comment!

**janiemanie1993: **Sure will…for a given value of 'soon', anyway. XD Happy to hear you thought Sonic's nightmare was interesting and enjoyed the vampire cheap shot.^^ Thanks for commenting again!

**dunehazard: **That…that would be absolutely terrible. O.o No worries, tho, the April Fools chapter is still available in all its glory at the next fic over, 'Life could have been so different', where I pulled the same prank. :P But as for whether pirates will have anything to do with our beloved characters…read on to find out! ;)

**Teribane: **Yeeeah, 'Tales of Shadows' is destined to remain as a prologue for a li'l while longer, I need to finish off other stuff first. I prefer to have a fic fully planned out before I start putting it up, so I'd rather have a semi-concluded prelude up there instead of a fic that breaks off in the middle of the story 'cause I didn't have the time at the moment…good luck fighting off those Twilight-zombies, tho…_you will not escape_! XD

**FantomoDrako: **Heh, glad to hear it! :D That Sonic dream is supposed to become a story eventually, but not before I've finished off the other ones. Too much on my plate already! XD Amy's dream….yeah. There's places where even I don't wanna read fanfic.^^ Thanks for your wonderful comment, it's always great to hear an opinion especially on li'l 'experimental' chappies!

**Kharmachaos: **(innocent smile) Whatever could you be talking about? Definitely no fore-shadow-ing going on here…*gets bricked for pun* Thanks for the review!

**?: **_Au contraire. _If a crazy person claims sth to be insane, obviously, the opposite is likely to be true. (bows) The plot of Tails' dream belonged to 'Tales of Shadows', a fic of mine that is a Sonic/Yugioh crossover, so yeah, that's where season 0, the best of the lot comes in. Sonic's dream was neither a parody nor a continuation, but an original fanfic idea of mine that I might write someday. This time (for once) no reference to anything intended. And, yes, I like bunnies very much. :3 I have heard about Big's Travel Diary, but haven't yet had time to check it out myself. Have you?

**Chaser Warring on Everything: **The word you're looking for is not 'redundant' but 'superfluous'. I BE ZA GRAMMAR NAZI. Nah, no plot advancement intended, but just me having fun. Think of it as 'character art' like in a webcomic when the artist doesn't feel like drawing today. :P It's one of the few upsides a non-commercial webthing like this has.^^

**TorpeGraveYard1031: **Awesome, new word learned. I laughed out loud at your pick-up line, btw…XD And Shahra and Amy getting along? No, you must have misread. :P Your dream on the other hand sounds…disturbing…but thanks for your review!^^

**petite-dreamer: **Hahah, I could have known that you'd know something's up. XD The 'feral universe' should be expanded eventually, I think, it keeps gnawing away at my brain. But, both that fic and 'Tales of Shadows' will probably have to wait until either 'Life…' and/or this one as well as HARCIT are finished, otherwise they'll find me giggling and undernourished at my computer at some stage, babbling about having to update in time.^^(drop) No Maria in there, but her and Knuckles' storylines were just too diverse...for now. ;) And as always, thanks so much for your review!

**Asher Tye: **Heh, I knew you'd like that Kitsune bit! :D And yup, Bunnie totally was Archie!Bunnie. I like my li'l cameos too much for her not to be. ;) And ooooh, yes, the pirates. Way cooler than ninjas, I have been waiting forever to write this chapter, drowning Sonic is gonna be fun! :D Thanks for your comment, of course, have fun with the fossils on my profile. XD

**Samara: **Thanks! Yeah, Sonic's plot bunnie should become reality eventually, a lot of people seem to like it. Glad you enjoyed Amy's nightmare horror, that was a lot of fun to write. Thanks for commenting!

**Megamagikarp: **Sonic's plot bunnie was the only one which I hadn't yet previously written about, that's why it was the longest. 'Tales of Shadows' will be updated as soon as I've finished one of these *other* fics, I promise...:p Thanks for your review, tho – although, given the last line of your comment, in your case I'd be looking over my shoulder for those grammar Nazis. XD

**YumeTakato: **I'm glad you did, I was really wondering what people would think of this chapter. Happy you liked it and thanks for your review!

**Skyblaze: **Heeeh, glad you liked! Yeah, I, too, have a thing for Yami!Shadow…insane (but _really cool_) psychopath protecting the young and cute woobie, what could be better? As for mentions of my fav Ultimate hedgie, hey – you're talking to a fangirl here, how could I possibly not mention him from time to time? ;) Although you gotta consider: Amy wasn't in the game, either, and *she* showed up…but please read on to find out!^^

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Heh, nothing like reading fanfic when you should technically be doing other things. XD Glad you liked!

**Tutis: **Great, glad to hear you liked the ideas! :P And yes, Amy has *very* good reason to be scared...it would be enough to make *me* hide in a closet, I know that much. XD Thanks for the review!

**amyfan4ever: **Yeah, I was wondering whether people would have that reaction. XD As for Sonic's aquaphobia...heh, it ain't gonna be easy, that's all I say! :P Thanks for another review! :D

**CerberAsta: **^^Thanks! (I gotta remember how you worded that for my ownfuture reviews...XD) And yeah, Nack SO doesn't get enough love. Tales of Shadows will be continued...as soon as I got either of these two epics out of my way. :P

**star's dreams: **My relationship with the Twilight series...is a little bit nonconventional. I did like it a lot...a couple of years ago. Then I discovered how much horrid propaganda is in there and how badly written the plot is, so by now I love the series for its sheer value in lulz and because I find its parodies and flame wars instigated between twi-hards and forum trolls incredibly entertaining. And of course I had to jump on the bandwagon. :P But of course thanks for your review, glad you liked Sonic's plot bunnie!^^

**the-dreary-unicorn: **Heh, thanks. :) I do hope you'll enjoy it...how's your own fic coming along now, better? :)

**The Andromeda Rose: **Sure, curled up Sonic is always cute.^^ The scene you described certainly sounds like it was, too. :) As for suggestions: I usually try to keep dialogue sentences shorter than narrative ones, simply because people rarely talk in elongated sentences like you would find in a book and you might have noticed yourself that what people say doesn't always make perfect sense, mostly because they didn't think about it long enough. That's what I try to convey in my dialogue, too. The period you suggested, sadly doesn't work - if I had the phrase like you wrote it, Shahra would have to literally 'sigh' the words, but instead first she sighs, then says something afterwards. Make sense? :P However, it's good to always question what one reads, it'll serve to make one a much better author.^^ Thanks for your comment!

**Blue Mage Quartet: **(bows) Thank you, glad you liked! And gah, I believe the fetus was the most nightmarish creation in that entire book...XD And don't worry about late reviews, look how late my flippin *chapters* are...^^° Thank you for always commenting!

**mythamagica: **Yeah, the wording, bane of my life. :P Not a native speaker here, you know? ;) If there's any suggestion for awkward sentences, feel free to point them out! :D Thanks for your review, welcome aboard!

**Witch O' Miracles: **Hey, sorry for the major lateness of this *chapter*...;) And heh, Yugioh Abridged refs will most likely be sprinkled throughout the entirety of my fics, I love that series too much. XD True, no penalty game for Nack, but unfortunately for the Weasel, Shadow is not much of a 'King of Games', but rather lives by 'Playtime is OVER...!' ^^ And don't encourage me on the Twilight thing, I got nightmares of that stuff even now! XD Thanks a lot for that review, I always enjoy reading them. :)

**Disclaimer**: If I owned this game, Tails would probably die at some point. At some point in each level.

**Chapter ****28: The Pirate Storm**

Rain.

There is rain and there is _rain_. Comparing the former to the latter is like trying to compare a Christmas cracker to Pompeii. Real rain, _primal_ rain, rain that seems to have come straight from the time when the Earth was young and the oceans were still falling from the sky, is something else entirely. It soaks you to the bone and then rinses out the marrow; it feels like a vertical sea with small holes to breathe in; and its relentless song whispers in your ear that you'll never feel dry again for the rest of your life.

Sonic and his friends were trudging through it and contemplating just how long the rest of their lives would be exactly, if things continued like this.

"Gah! I'm drenched to the roots of my fur! All my clothes are dripping wet!" Amy complained loudly for perhaps the third time ever since they had left their campsite about half an hour ago. She had actually been seriously considering asking Shahra to magick her an umbrella or a raincoat, but then ditched that idea on account of rather eating her own tail than stooping so low as to ask the magical bi-…_bimbo_…for assistance. Of course she wasn't the only half-mermaid plodding along, the others (sans Shahra) resembling near-drowned rats as well, Tails' and Knuckles' vests, turbans and waistbands sticking to their fur like a soggy second skin. But contrary to the males, the pink girl didn't like the outdoors that much (unless they came as parks, preferably containing trimmed hedges, rose gardens, and, most importantly, benches with Sonic on them) and wasn't too fond of anything to do with feral nature. When she had been in primary school at the orphanage, and their assignment had been to do a report about their respective non-sapient ancestral races, it had been _weeks _until she had been able to look at worms again without retching.

Another strong gale started howling at this point and all four Mobians hunched over anew, drowning out even Amy's complaints. The general plan was to head up one of the cliffs at the edge of the bay and from there jump down onto one of the ships that had been wedged into the stones at the bottom and then make their way across the wreckage in the bay. It seemed the only feasible option, since going out into the water from the beach to access the boats had been deemed impossible due to the towering waves crashing violently against the sandy shore every single minute. (Well. That, and the fact that Sonic had threatened to chain himself to a tree if they only _considered_ suggesting they swim anywhere.)

They arrived at the top of the cliff, looking out over the expanse of wet chaos beneath them, the foam and the drops in the air hiding that elusive pirate ship they were searching for from their view. Sonic stemmed his fists into his hip.

"Okay. Now where is that _damn_ fourth World Ring?"

"Well, somewhere below us I imagine. And no need to cuss," the echidna replied, but Sonic only shrugged.

"Just sounded right for some reason. You guys ready?"

The five adventurers were looking down at the first ship straight below them and waiting for the wind to calm down a little before they would take the 60 ft drop onto the wooden construction from where they would be able to continue to the other floating ruins. None of them was afraid of the jump, especially since in the book world they seemed to have started every single adventure by falling down from somewhere high. Shahra had explained that it had something to do with a 'level intro sequence', but again, none of them had understood what the girl was on about. And, of course, it was completely irrelevant to Sonic who had just taken a running leap right into the heart of the rain and the storm and the waves.

xxx

Approximately two meta-levels away, Sonic's metal double and Robo Knux were currently busy watching a surveillance video screen. It showed a familiar fuzzy form zig-zagging around while hovering over the ground, a red jewel on some kind of antennae sticking up from the top of its skull. Looking closer, you could also recognize people running away from it in panic, a couple of burning houses and quite a lot of blood. Robo Knux regarded the scenario on the surveillance screen and _clank_ed a little, which is the robotic equivalent of a frown.

"Hmm. You suppose it was a wise choice to let it loose?" he asked the robot standing next to him. Metal Sonic gave a stiff shrug.

"I am undecided at this point." He leaned in closer as the microphones seemed to pick up some sound besides the undefined carnage noise. "Is it actually saying something? I wasn't aware the Doctor had programmed it with speech."

"What? Can you make sense of it?" Robo Knux asked, intrigued despite himself. He wasn't very experienced in the psychology of homicidal plush toys, but he was always eager to know what other creatures thought when they killed.

"Affirmative, it says…it says…" Metal Sonic had leaned in even further, pressing his audio sensors against the speaker, before he suddenly paused and frowned.

"It says 'Your mother is playing Sonic R in hell!'"

xxx

"Let's go, Shahra!" Sonic yelled as they soared through the air, unaware that things elsewhere had just gotten a lot more surreal. He, Knuckles and Tails, who was carrying Amy, dropped onto the dark wood of the ship's deck, slippery from the unrelenting rain and the spray of the ocean. It was perhaps 40 feet wide, and had to have been longer once upon a time before it had crashed into the cliff. Now, the bow had been maimed by the stones and only the middle part of the ship with the main mast and a doorway in the stern with a corridor leading curiously into nowhere remained, the taff rail having vanished into the waves as well.

Sonic touched onto the ground and for a moment remained kneeling, knowing that if he froze up now, it would be all over. He had to keep moving, or else his fear would paralyze him completely. The rain was still pouring out of the sky, fortunately disguising any shivers and rapid breathing as a result of the cold and not one of panic. He jumped, startled, and with less grace than usual as the ship moved underneath him with a groan. All the little signals of his body indicated a hunted animal rather than a proud hero and it took Sonic a moment to shake his head, droplets flying in all directions, and get himself together again, still half-crouching on the ship's floor. But then, his eyes briefly focused on the burning flame on his chest and it was a curious feeling; he knew the arrow had pierced his heart and all but enslaved him to Erazor, but…

The little fire was hissing defiantly against the rain and the waves, flickering, dancing, but never going out. How had Shahra put it, as he went up against the Ifrit? _Bonded to the flame… _

"Alright," Sonic muttered under his breath, regarding the small blaze out of the corner of his eye. "If you can survive this nightmare, then so can I. Sonic the Hedgehog isn't gonna lose to some party pyro trick." He stood up. "Okay, guys! Ready to bust this place?" he called and while Tails and Amy were quick to nod and shout their approval, Knuckles couldn't help but wonder whether the hedgehog's flame hadn't just started to burn a little bit brighter again…

_But what does it *mean*? _he wondered. It wasn't the first time the fire had seemed almost in tune with its victim…

"Come on, Knuckster! We haven't got all day!"

"Call me 'Knuckster' again and you won't have another _minute_ to live, hedgehog," the echidna informed the blue speedster in a dead-pan, but of course, Sonic had already taken off. The other three were quick to follow and all four adventurers slithered and slid across the deck toward the doorway opening up onto the stormy sea.

"Let's go, Shahra!" Sonic called, face lighting up as soon as he saw the dash pad where the ship's floor had fallen away, large cat walk-like pieces of wood floating in the water behind it so one would be able to make their way across easily.

None of them minded the constant juxtaposition of the fairy tale environment and the strange modern appliances much anymore, even if the world was starting to look increasingly like a patchwork quilt made by a madman. They all knew who was responsible for creating the chaos surrounding them and Erazor, as they guessed, was exactly the sort of person who at playschool had always hammered the square blocks into the round holes. Not to mention he'd probably also always been the kind of kid who wouldn't understand why you couldn't glue the torn-off wings of a fly back on…

"Be careful, Sonic!" the genie called at that point, previous experience letting her work out easily her master's next haphazard plan upon sight of the dash pad. "The seas have turned stormy!" she warned, even if she knew that her words were as superfluous as utterly futile, the hedgehog merely giving her a dripping grin.

"Wow, really? Well, so much for a vacation!" Sonic replied, darting forward and flying over the pad onto the swimming, splintered walkway. He landed easily, his sense of balance excellent even while he tore over the swaying wooden planks. Sonic's face lit up as up ahead another ship wreck became visible in the rain, its large wooden body wedged firmly in the rocks of an outcropping of the cliff, providing secure footing once more if they could make it over there. The blue hedgehog slid across the wet walkway with surprising grace, the water splashing up on both sides failing to make him flinch yet even while they sent his heart racing. At the end of the last plank Sonic tensed briefly before strong blue legs hurled him forwards, a spiked, curled-up body hitting an unwary monster puppet in the middle, using the rebound gained from the impact to cover the rest of the gap like he had practiced on oh-so-many GUN beetles. With a last somersault in the air and a lightning grin, the hero of Mobius landed on his feet on the next boat, turning the landing into a mock bow in one movement.

"Ta-dah! Well, Shahra, what did you think of tha-?"

It was at that point that Amy landed on top of him.

"Gah!"

"Oh, Sonic, I'm sorry! My gloves are soaked, I slipped from Tails' grip!" Amy cried, rapidly sitting up on Sonic (but interestingly enough failing to get up completely) and covering her mouth with her hands. "Did I hurt you?"

"No…just my dignity, as usual…" Sonic mumbled with his face pressed into the wet floor boards, hearing a giggling Tails and snickering Knuckles land behind him, the former of which had to have carried the pink hedgehog across the gap. The hero of Mobius idly wondered where the days when it had just been him, his sneakers and freaky palmtrees containing TV boxes had gone, but then finally attempted to raise himself again.

"Uh…Amy, mind getting offa me? You know, there could be monsters and stuff around…"

"Oh! Of course, Sonikku!" the pink girl called cheerfully, at the same time summoning her bright red hammer again. "But don't worry, there's nothing that I'd let harm you!"

"Uh, in fact, there is a monster just up ahead…" Shahra commented, pointing toward the bow of the new boat they were on now, where a strange new version of Erazor's henchmen was lurking.

Well.

Wobbling, actually.

It exuded the same aura of mortal danger like its floating brethren, by mostly sitting in one place and not doing anything, but it did look slightly different. Its body-shape wasn't reminiscent of a spinning top anymore, but rather reminded the viewer of a sort of blob drawn up to about a metre of height. The skin was coloured in a blue and black motif and on top of its 'head' (for want of a better word) sat a single large horn. Contrary to the other monsters they had seen it also had a gaping mouth lined with sharp teeth, which it was opening and closing like a goldfish for no apparent reason. Combined with the constant shaking of its body it actually looked more like a lobotomized karaoke-addict with the sound turned off, but if there was one thing Sonic had learned, it was that the next time Robotnik would build a _proper_ insanely dangerous robot intent on killing him, Sonic would actually go up and thank the man for it.

"If you call that a 'monster', genie, then you haven't seen the housewives on Boxing day sales that I have," Amy drawled, twirling her hammer as she got up and stepped over toward the strange creature. Knuckles and Tails, who both had been about to end its existence themselves, hurriedly stepped backwards, none of them wishing to get in the way of a girl who had just been talking about shopping.

Sonic was just climbing to his feet while Amy grasped her hammer more firmly, approaching the wobbling jelly and the blue speedster almost raised an eye ridge as he actually had to admit that the young hedgehog wasn't making a bad job out of it at all. Her drenched fur and clothes were flat against her skin, letting him see her slender muscles moving over her toned body and her movements were those of a slightly young and inexperienced, but already skilled huntress. It remindedthe hero of Mobius sharply that Amy, similar to Tails, had so far faced a plenitude of dangers while at his side (or rather, on his rapidly accelerating heels), and she was by no means the helpless little girl from the orphanage anymore.

With one swift movement, she raised her hammer and struck.

The monster, in turn, took that as an incentive to explode into a fountain of slime.

"EWWWWW!"

Amy screamed while all of the males stared saucer-eyed at the girl suddenly covered in azure-coloured goo, their second-youngest member shaking herself wildly to get rid of the stuff.

"Get it off, get it off, ooooh, this is _disgusting_!" she wailed, high-pitched enough to put any sirens to shame.

"Do…do you think there will be more of those monsters?" Tails asked timidly, once again edging closer to Sonic in search for reassurance. The hedgehog shook his head.

"Not if she keeps screaming like that, no," he said and then couldn't help but shoot a tiny sideways glance at Shahra.

"…you knew that would happen, didn't you?"

"You only told me to warn you about any monsters in the near vicinity, master," Shahra replied innocently. "I couldn't know she would try to attack it right away."

_Of all the times for her to develop a sense of humour, why does it have to be __*now*? _

Sonic sighed. "Shahra, about you and Amy-"

"Amy, watch out!" Tails suddenly shouted, pointing at three more horned blobs suddenly having jumped from the sea and now surrounding the pink-furred girl, now actually rearing a lot more threateningly as she was covered in the remains of their fallen comrade. Amy shrieked in surprise and swung her hammer around her instinctively in a whirlwind attack, instantly killing all three of them…and ending up covered in even more goo.

"AAAAAAAAH-!"

Sonic folded his ears flat against his head, giving Shahra a pained look. "You and Amy. Don't. Just…don't."

xxx

"Ugh, this is _so gross!" _Amy grimaced as she was still scrubbing at her skirt and tube top, trying to get the rest of the slime to go away. "At this rate, I'll have to jump into the ocean to get clean!"

"Woah, woah, hold it! Nobody's jumping into _any _oceans today, you hear me?" Sonic asked from up ahead, the five adventures once more on their way through the storm and the wave-swept coastal landscape. The last wreck pieces they had jumped across had brought them to some stone path ways carved into the sides of a few giant boulder pieces. They were jutting out of the water in the middle of the bay littered with ships and Sonic really thought that while they were lucky enough to have some solid ground to stand on, jumping _voluntarily_ into the sea was the last thing for a sane person to do. Even if it wasn't like they could get any wetter…

"Uhm… if you want to, you can have my clothes. They're just as soaked as yours, but they're clean and I don't actually need them" Knuckles said to Amy, not looking at her, but his usually gruff voice only held honest helpfulness this time – the somewhat awkward and bashful manner indicating that he was still trying to make amends for his earlier involuntary advances on her. Amy suppressed a smile.

"That's a kind offer, Knuckles, but no, thanks," she replied, shooting a glance at his sailor outfit. "After all, you know what they say about girls who only wear vests and boots."

"Oh. Of course," the echidna said, not entirely sure what it was 'they' said, but for some reason thinking it had something to do with insulting squirrels.

"Sonic, should I carry you again?" Tails asked at this point where the curved stone path ended and they once more looked out over the expanse of churning water, only a few planks and boxes floating in between them and the next sandbank. Sonic shook his head, quills dripping.

"Nah, kiddo. You take care of Amy again, I'll be fine. And after all, I still have Shahra if I should ever slip." He winked and was off again, the others watching the slender blue shape time his jumps expertly between the swaying pieces of wood before they followed themselves. For Knuckles, none of the gaps were a problem, even if his gliding range was limited with his dread-locks heavy with water. Tails' namesakes were also bogged down, but still the fox kit held up fairly well as he carried the hedgehog girl over the dangerous passage, all five adventurers arriving on the water-enclosed bit of land safely.

Well.

Only if your definition of 'safely' included 'almost getting sliced apart by rotating blades', of course, but fortunately for Sonic that was exactly the case.

The little sandy isle was perhaps thirty feet in diameter, and in front of them two giant whirling ninja stars were flying up and down, a bit like the spike balls they had already encountered earlier. Sonic cocked his head.

"I give him five out of ten for style, but he gets zero for effectiveness. I mean, giant shuriken? Really? Ever since _Naruto_ I thought everybody knew these never ever work…" Sonic grinned, dodging the blades of the rotating contraptions with ease. Tails and Amy followed swiftly (even if Knuckles had to be convinced to postpone the investigating of the trap designs until _after_ they had rescued this world), and soon enough the next gap was roaring before them, this time only a single floating barrel there for Sonic to bounce from and to reach the next piece of muddy land. The hero of Mobius sized the distance up with the gaze of an expert. The water rushing below his feet still sent the chills up his legs, but as long as he concentrated, he should be able to do this…

He leapt. The visibility was poor, with the eternal twilight of the storm and the rain pelting his face, but Sonic had fought on battlefields where the smoke of exploded robots had had the air approaching the clarity (and consistency) of chewing gum, so this wasn't a big deal. He curled up with practice gained from thousands of jumps before, hitting the barrel and uncurling in time to land on his feet again.

Just to see that this was only _another_ mini-island, attacked by waves, consisting of dirt, debris and monster blobs and containing no pirates at all, but instead leading on into the distance where uncountable others of its kind waited. Sonic slumped to his knees.

"Oh man…does this never end?" the hero of Mobius groaned, not caring that the mud was currently soiling his legs. Behind him, he could hear his friends coming up, but he didn't feel like getting up just yet. They had been traveling for only half an hour through this wet world madness, but already Sonic could feel that his adrenaline was mostly spent, the raging panic he had so far suppressed sucking him dry for energy.

"Hey Sonic, everything all right?" Tails asked as he and Amy landed, and the older hedgehog gave a brief nod, running a soaked glove over the slick fur in his face.

"Yeah…just been wondering how long until we finally reach those damn pirates, s'all," he said, once again not wishing to draw unnecessary attention to his phobia. "I dunno, I just want to get this over with and this arrow outta my chest," he lied, picking himself up again, not caring to clean his knees and shins since the rain would rinse off the mud anyway. At his words, Shahra (who had been noticeably quiet and mumbly during his frequent stunts) appeared again, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"Well…with all the soul energy you have collected by destroying Erazor's monsters, you should actually be able to speed this up," she said.

Sonic's ears raised themselves ever so little. "Did you just say something about speed?"

Shahra nodded, ignoring Knuckles give a simultaneous groan in the background. "Yes. The bright floating orbs that appear when you release the stories that have been used to construct his abominations can also be used to manipulate this world. Do you remember the Time Break from when we escaped the Ifrit?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied. "It was a little bit like Chaos Control, slowed the world right down around you."

"That's right. However, this technique also has a pendant which does sort of the opposite…it speeds _you_ right up. I have to warn you, it does feel a little bit strange."

"One moment, genie. Will it speed _us_ up as well?" Knuckles spoke up. "Last time you employed this…Time Break, the hedgehog had to drag me and the kit out of the foundry. Even considering I'd consent to subjecting myself to this indignity again, this time Sonic would have to carry _three_ of us and I doubt it would work that well."

"Oh no," Shahra shook her head, "this is different. All four of you will travel together."

"What, like a teleport?" Tails asked, frowning, his wet bangs hanging over his eyes. "How-?"

"How about I just show you?" Shahra suggested, clasping her hands together. "If you're ready, prepare for…"

Sonic suddenly gagged as he could feel his genie's mind presence spread out in his consciousness again like it had two days ago, Shahra's magic flooding through his body, her will overtaking his larynx, his tongue…

"_SPEED BREAK_!"

He didn't know what it meant. But he didn't have time to wonder, either.

They took off. There were monsters, crackling with energy x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x weaved through wooden posts x x x x x x x x x x x almost fell into the sea x x x x x x x Amy tore x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x waves brushing up x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x he landed safely x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x boxes, they evaded x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x race, don't stop x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x rushing past a treasure chest x x x x x x x x x x x whirling, deadly spines x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x monster fell, dead x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x next island, explosions x x x x x x x x x dodged x x x x attack x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x "Hey Sonic, wait!" x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x grab him, forward x x x x x x x x x x x x "That was close!" x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x searing flames the pain x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x flying over the water x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x fire, kill x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x ninja stars, sudden pain, no matter x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x a gap, bridge, giant floating ball, _jump –_

"…what the _hell_?" Sonic gasped as soon as the mad ride had stopped and they were suddenly standing on another ship wreck, none of them quite sure how they had just got here. He had run, he remembered, and jumped and fought and bounced, but…

"…everyone all right?" Sonic turned around to focus on his equally confused companions. All of them were looking around, trying to get to terms with their new surroundings.

Amy clutched her head. "I'm gonna give that genie a good talking to, I swear…"

As if she had heard the words, Shahra appeared again in her characteristic puff of smoke. "Well, how was that?" she smiled.

"I dunno, what _was_ it?" Tails asked, appearing a bit freaked out and tempted to count his namesakes to make sure they were still all there. Shahra gave a little bow.

"It was speed reading, of course! You can skim a book to get to the exciting part if there are passages you don't like!"

"Right. Can we also hide behind the sofa when the scary monsters appear?" Knuckles asked sarcastically. The echidna had noticed some minor burns on his upper arms and two very light gashes on Sonic's shins, and while he couldn't exactly recall what had caused them, it sure showed that while 'speed reading' you could also miss some important information and in here, that could very well turn out deadly. "I don't think we should use that technique anymore. It seems danger-"

"Heyyyy, guys, look, this is a cannon! We can fire ourselves out of it!"

Knuckles felt tempted to hide behind a sofa from the hedgehog. Or rather, put said furniture on top of him.

"You want to fire yourself out of a _cannon_," the echidna repeated. The ship wreck they were standing on indeed had one unscathed gun standing in the middle of the deck, pointed almost straight at the sky. Sonic nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, can't you see, this is brilliant! We will be able to go up to a high vantage point, see where that ship with the pirates is and maybe even cover some distance!"

"Yeah, not to mention being _blown to_ _bits_!"

"Nah, these old models actually have very weak blasts. We'd actually be able to ride the cannonball!" Sonic insisted. Tails looked at his older brother faintly worried, while Amy seemed about to remind him (at a very high volume) what she thought about any more explosive rides.

"He wants to let himself be shot out of a cannon," Knuckles muttered. "For some reason I have a terrible _déjà vu_ about this and think this is not at all a good idea."

"Oh, do not worry, Guardian. It should be safe," Shahra told him with a smile. Knuckles raised a dripping eye ridge.

"How could a plan like _this_ be safe?"

"Well, we are in a story book. Generally, an absolutely outrageous plan will be likely to succeed," Shahra explained. "This is also known as a very old phenomenon, usually referred to as the 'Rule of Cool'."

"The…_Rule_…of Cool." A deceased cooking pot couldn't have managed a more dead-pan tone than the echidna.

The genie nodded brightly. "Yes! I have never understood what temperature has to do with it, but it really works. You can enter the cannon without fear," she said, gesturing over to the contraption that Sonic was already busy poking his head in and Tails was kneeling in front of as he investigated. Amy was twirling her hammer, looking a bit undecided, but Knuckles knew she would still follow her hero.

"Okay, everyone! I've found a big enough cannonball, we just gotta put it inside, sit on top of it and light the fuse!" Sonic called over and Knuckles groaned, but eventually turned and trotted over. The 'cannonball' Sonic had found actually looked more like a torpedo, but it was more than three feet long and one and a half in diametre, so with effort, they might actually all be able to cling to it. Of course, he was the only one strong enough to put it in the barrel, wondering all the while why he was actually letting the blue maniac talk him into this.

But of course, this was Sonic the Hedgehog.

Knuckles had wondered often what enticed his fans and followers, why anyone would want to hang around with him and risk their lives to do it, why nobody but a few exceptions could help it and like the whirlwind hedgehog at least a little bit. And the answer was simple.

Sonic's greatest power was neither his speed not his Chaos abilities, but the simple way he was more himself than anyone else you were ever likely to meet and only the twinkle in his eyes could make a tiny part of you wish you were like him.

_One day you're gonna get me killed, hedgehog, and when that happens, I swear by the Master Emerald, even if we both go to Heaven, I'll make it a personal hell for you. _

Knuckles grunted and shoved the giant bullet inside. "Okay. Let's get in."

They piled inside in a rather awkward fashion, Knuckles and Sonic first, then Amy and finally Tails who was the lightest of the four. Shahra managed to light the soaked fuse with magic, and then there were only a few tense seconds while all of them in the cramped, wet darkness had time to consider all the things that could go wrong…before the cannon fired.

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_Hiii there! Well, lessee, what does this section usually contain...

a) apologies: soooo sorry for the lag! Seems like we're back to two updates a month, guys, real life is a bit on the insane side atm...^^ I did want to put another really cool thing (see how specific I am today?) into this chappie, but it got too long...so, you can look *extra* forward to the next one, it's gonna be great. :D

b) remarks relating to travel, showing that she actually has more time on her hands than she should, which would be better used for fanfic: Another hasty trip to Zurich ruined my update plans...:P but yeah, it's actually not as pretty as you'd think, which is odd. After all, WWII didn't even destroy their nice old buildings! I thought in Switzerland Lucerne was better-looking...but of course, I was mainly indoors at a convention at the time, so maybe I didn't see that much. XD

c) shameless plugs: New sonic adventure story up on this profile! Go read it!

d) JudasFm reference for the day: Knuckles mentions that blasting yourself out of a cannon is a bad idea. I dare you to read her 'Secrets of the Emeralds' fic to find out why. *rocks in a corner*

e) last but not least, simple begging: If you read, please review? ;)


	29. Hedgehogs of the Caribbean

**This****AccountisDEAD42: **(Woah, Zombie reviewer! O.o) Heh, thanks! :D Glad you liked it! And no worries, there's a lot more where that Abridged Reference came from…now if only LK would make another episode. ;) And uh-huh, catty banter is just as much fun as the usual boasting of the guys, it's my fav part to write, happy to hear you enjoy reading it.^^ And ah, yes, the cliffhangers…I like those a bit too much. :P But thanks for your wonderful, detailed review, hope you have fun with the new chappie!

**petite-dreamer: **We totally are.^^ And heh, _that'_s a cool idea…although that would make Shahra rather…scary. O.o But, need for sanity? No idea what you're talking about…. XD I hope I'll be able to write and play the actual videogames a lot more until semester break is over…and heh, some (read: most) of my fav authors make me wait _years _for them to update and I still read them, so I wouldn't worry. :P As always, thanks a lot for your extensive review, that's why writing even when you have no time is fun!

**janiemanie1993: **Totally. That's why I write him suffering. XD And yeah, you should, it's heartbreaking but brilliant. And hmm, Shadow…? Well…let's read on and find out, shall we…? :P

**Asher Tye: **That they're…very effective leaders and very pretty? XD (has no wish to get on Sally's bad side) Somehow, I have a feeling most of the Sonamy shippers wouldn't agree…^^° But I like nearly all characters and when I write them I like them to be at least a little bit badass, so I'm glad you enjoyed Amy's character in here so far. And getting home while Tails Doll is there…errr, ask me again on Halloween, will ya? Thanks for the nice review! :D

**Ri2: **Totally. :P Sonic Team has enough ridiculous ideas for ten fanfics, never mind one…and fear the orange fuzzie plus toy! XD Thanks for commenting!

**dunehazard: **True, but not only is mine the only parody, I also have serious doubts concerning the quality of said crossovers. :P And yes, that's what I thought it Secret Rings as well, Sonic needs companions. ;) Speed Reading in Reality…hmm, I'd probably be reading myself into walls most of the time, then. :P Thanks for the comment!

**YumeTakato: **Thanks! Yes, it's like a jelly party, isn't it…not. XD Glad you liked it, have fun with this one

**: **^^ (If I don't organize much else…) I sure have, watch them almost as soon as they come out. And hey, that level was hard even with 20/20 vision…:P And I have to play it over and over and over…. Alf Layla Wa Layla…well, as soon as I can stop laughing about the name (who names a final boss ALF?) I'll probably figure sth out. ;) Thanks for commenting!

**Teribane: **I dunno, I've never bothered counting. ;) Glad you liked it, I'll be interested to see whether yours hypothesis was correct… :P

**midevillombax: **Go there? Dude, I practically _live _on the site. XD

**Lupus Silvae: **Thanks! ;) Amy…yeah, special case. Her personality in the games is…a bit trying for me, so in here she's a bit more comic-like, both Archie and Fleetway. :P But glad you liked it and I hope updates will be more frequent from now on.^^

**kharmachaos: **Hmm, a clue indeed? XD And yup, the Sonic heroes ref was fully intended. :P Glad you liked it and thanks for the review!

**The Cinderninja: **Hahaha, what can I say, we know what quality is. :P Happy to hear that people can be patient, too – when you spent about five hours on a chappie, getting a review that consists of 'cool, plz update' and nothing else is not exactly what you were hoping for. ;) Thanks for your comment, hope you enjoy the new chapter!

**DgShadowChocolate: **Must be special talent of his. :P Thanks!

**Skyblaze:**Uh-huh. I may not be able to write females, but I can write cat fights…XD And of course, it's the latter. I've seen the original excorcist, but horror movies scare me, so I'd rather try to forget them than to extract references. ^^° And YES, this fic _will _turn out better for Sonic than having his feet burnt up, thankyouverymuch. (rocks in corner) Think fluff…think fluff…hope you especially enjoy this new chappie, tho and thanks for reviewing! ;)

**MegaMagikarp: **She totally did and I spend wayyy to much time there, yes. :P

**The Andromeda Rose: **Heh, how far did you get?

**TorpeGraveYard1031: **(blows smoke off gun barrel) Hmm…read on to find out? ;) And heeh, glad you liked that part, I love my puns. XD The birthday party might be left for my reader's fantasy – or you're more than welcome to write your own one-shot, whatever works. :P Thanks for reviewing!

**nemiah: **The fourth wall? (looks at splinters to her feet) Oh, THAT fourth wall…if you draw anything, tho, I'd be interested to see it! :P Thanks for commenting!

**shadowfang324: **Heh, thanks! And yeah, Knuckles and Tails are canon characters in the game, having Amy in there was my own invention. :P Enjoy the new chappie!

**star's dreams:**Thanks! And as for writing, just keep on trying.^^

**sonicfan: **Hmm…mayyybe…which character were you thinking of? :P

**Ngandu the Croc: **WOW, mega review, thanks!^^ And yes, I love literature greatly, and what I love, I make fun of. ;) And YES to narrative causality! XD That's how the world should work…:P Of course, Sonic's indomitable spirit is why he's an awesome hero. And Shahra and Amy cats on a hot tin roof, it seems…XD Thanks for your wonderful review, again!

**(anonymous): **Nope, if a sane person says sth is sane, then it obviously is. Believe me, I'm good at this. ;) The shocking will start soon, I still have a ways to go with that level…^^ And nope, no Robotnik to imprison Sonic this time. I have other stuff planned. Mwahahah. XD And heh, that with Big sounds highly interesting. Gotta unlock that one, thanks!

**Kitsune-san: **Hahaha, glad you did. XD Thanks for your comment!

**GameSpazzer **(somebody really oughtta take those flashing lights outta videogames, I take it…?) : Wow, that's really flattering, thanks! :D As for your guesses, tho, shhh! Don't tell everyone! XD (Or just read on to find out whether you're right….;) ) And no worries, I rarely disappoint readers.^^ Thanks a lot for your nice review, I hope you like the new chappie as well!

**Blue Mage Quartet: **Hahahah, no worries, how long do you think do I take to actually get a chapter to you people on time? XD And oh, 'ravaged coast', I like that wording, gotta use it somewhere.^^ As for whether Sonic's warning Amy works, tho…please read on to find out? XD Thanks a lot for your detailed comment, please have fun with the new chapter!

**Morality0duality: **Rule #1 where my story's humour is concerned: Nothing's sacred. :P But glad to hear you liked Sonic's dream I'll see whether I can make it a fic someday!

**coolshadowblader: **Thanks! I try;)

**Chapter 29: Hedgehogs of the Caribbean**

"_Wo-hooo_!"

"What _is_ it with you and rides on insane contraptions?_!_"

"Don't let go! Amy, please, _don't let go_!"

The four Mobians had arranged themselves in a rather strange manner as the cannonball/torpedo had rocketed them skywards, its upward flight soon turning horizontal and now it was soaring through the clouds and the drizzle as if powered by magic – which, judging by the fire now emanating from its rear end, it probably was.

Knuckles had been the only one strong enough to hold onto the tip of the torpedo once it had started to fly forward, and Sonic and Amy had scrambled to somehow stay on top of the echidna, which had resulted in them now sitting on his back while the Guardian was stretched flat and clinging to the giant bullet-shape with all four limbs. Sonic had latched onto his shoulders, Amy had her arms wrapped around the blue hedgehog as if they were riding a motorcycle and Tails for his part (and diminutive body weight) had been almost whisked off their ride and was now clinging to Amy's waist, his small body flying along behind.

"_This is fantastic!_" Sonic howled, ducking lower to decrease air resistance further. He then discovered that he could angle the flight of the cannonball when he leaned to the side – which he promptly did.

"Ahhh!"

"AHHHH!"

"Don't _do_ that, hedgehog!"

"Aww, guys, come on…" Sonic grinned, enjoying himself like he hadn't since last night. High above the waters, this made him feel safe like he hadn't for a felt eternity.

"Say genie, how come you're not whining as usual? This is pretty insane," Knuckles grunted, straining to hold onto the slick surface, but managing to turn his head enough to see Shahra flying alongside them. The genie smiled.

"Yes, but cannonball rides are an exception," she explained cheerfully. "They have a very long literary tradition and are therefore very safe – or have you never read the adventures of the Baron Münchhausen?"

Knuckles was just about to tell Shahra what exactly he thought of a book review held atop a flying torpedo, but then his balance suddenly started to shift and he noted that their path was now pointing _downwards_…

"Everybody, watch out! Prepare to jump off!" Sonic's voice called and Knuckles immediately stiffened. He could feel the weight of the others lift off him, presuming Tails probably had taken the two and before he would be smashed into the boat now below them, Knuckles pushed off the flying cannonball himself and flared out his dreadlocks to catch his fall...

Not a second too soon before the missile crashed into the sea. The heroes fell more or less gracefully onto the deck of the ship next to them, almost being thrown off their feet again when the explosion rocked the vessel.

"I lost my hammer again. Why do you always have to be so reckless?" Amy sighed, casting a last longing glance at the churning sea. Sonic merely shrugged and grinned.

"Hey, I thought it was fun. And you can always summon a new one, right?"

"No, it seems to be limited to two a day, here," the pink-furred girl replied. "No idea why…"

"_Jump!_" Tails called suddenly, when a fireball impacted not inches from the group, fortunately not setting their ship ablaze.

"Woah, we're under attack!" Sonic called. "Shahra! Who's doing this?_!_"

"I don't know, it must be the pirates we are trying to find, but in this storm it is difficult to see which ship the attacks are coming from…" the genie bit her lip.

"Even this ship has no crew except for the monsters," Knuckles stated, sweeping an arm to indicate the various creations of Erazor Djinn hovering around on deck. "How are we ever supposed to find any actual people?"

"Well, if we keep on moving forward, we should eventually run into them," Shahra assured him. "But to do that, we have to find the switches onboard this ship to open the doors that will let us access the rear areas…"

"Switches. Onboard a wooden pirate ship. To open 'rear areas'. I think I would like to talk the architect, because I believe he was designing a Zelda dungeon and not a naval vessel," Knuckles muttered.

"I believe you that it really made sense at the time," Sonic tried to soothe his upset genie girl who was once again not quite able to deal with the echidna pointing out the nonsensical nature of her world. "Now, how about you tell us where the switches are?"

"I…I think at first you have to defeat the monsters on deck. This will reveal a spring, then you can access the higher levels on the masts with the flying jars, up there you can grind along the railings and then the switch would be-"

She was interrupted by a giant crash.

"Or you simply tear the wooden walls down by force," Knuckles informed her coolly, pulling his spiked fist from the wreckage that had previously been blocking their way up the staircase to the quarterdeck of the ship. "When in doubt, whack it. Old echidna philosophy."

Sonic frowned. "You know, I _think_ I just heard it again. Those weird voices going 'I wish _I_ could have taken that shortcut!'."

They made their way across the ship quickly, evading the monsters and sliding across the wet planks until they managed to get onto a second vessel whose front had crashed into the rear of the first one. The new ship looked similar to the one they had just departed, except a bit richer in decoration, carpets hanging from walls that might have been Captain's cabins before the storm hit and took its sailors down to their watery graves, the sea not caring for status or rank. For the first time since they had started out that morning, the Mobians were actually standing under a roof and were not being pelted by rain.

Of course, the place rapidly became a bit _too _warm when they were attacked by another fire-breathing djinn.

"Watch out!" Tails shouted, rapidly lifting Amy out of harm's way before Sonic had already ricocheted off a wall and ended the monster's existence, passing right through the flame it spouted without getting burned even a bit.

"Heh. I suppose being completely drenched while having a demonic, flame-protecting arrow embedded in your chest does have its advantages," the hero of Mobius shrugged, too happy to be in the dry for a moment to complain while the two younger Mobians dropped onto the floor again. Tails gave himself a hearty canine shake, almost drenching the rest of them again.

"Hooh, boy, isn't it great to be finally out of the rain?"

"Yeah, don't get too used to it," Knuckles replied. "We've still got to get out there again."

"Gah, you don't hafta remind me…" Sonic groaned, walking across the room to open the door leading onto the afterdeck, so they would be able to jump from this ship, too. His ears pricked up. "Hey, lookit, _speeding pads_!"

Knuckles groaned. "By the Master Emerald, genie, isn't there anyway you could put an enthusiasm damper on your master?"

"Oy! Knuckles! Stop bellyachin', you old man, let's rock and roll!"

"I hope he falls into the sea. At least fish have no _ears_," the Guardian muttered under his breath, but they still followed Sonic outside onto the afterdeck into the storm again. The reason for the hedgehog's good mood soon became apparent. Not five metres in front of them, a distance easy to cover with the help of the dash pad mounted onto the railing of the ship, a rock outcropping turned into the entrance of a tunnel – no more skipping across swaying wrecks and floating planks, they'd have a firm footing for once! No wonder their aquaphobic leader's face had lit up like a science teacher a bit too inexperienced with sodium.

The hero of Mobius dashed for the pad, letting out another whoop as it catapulted him out over the waves toward the opening of the cave in the rock wall, Tails, Knuckles and Amy following him split-seconds after. They landed in the mouth of the cavern – and in turn the girls' mouths dropped with awe.

"Soooo _pretty_!"

Their new surroundings indeed seemed to belong into a fairy tale for once – and a Disney version, at that. The walls were a bright, shimmering turquoise, lit by forgotten lamps that made the cavern into a little luminous oasis against the dark, storm-wrecked shores outside. There were small, reflecting puddles on the floor with a couple of star fish in them that looked like they had fallen from the black sky to find a more welcoming home. Corals grew like crystal ferns on the ground, their delicate branches tinted in shades of dark red or green like a thousand crushed emeralds. Old, wooden and salt-crusted crates were stacked against a wall and Knuckles wondered whether the cave might have been used as a hide-out for pirates a long time ago. Now it seemed more like a tiny sanctuary for tempest-tossed and weary travelers like themselves, for once no monsters or traps trying to jump at them. The echidna thought he might be able to relax for a moment while they took their first steps into the cave, their necks craning and mouths smiling as they took in the ethereal beauty of the tunnel before them…

"Oh, Sonic, don't you think we can stay here for a little while longer?" Amy cooed for maybe the tenth time by now, skipping ahead to examine a particularly large and purple coral that branched off in a thousand directions and then turning back at her hero. "It's so nice in here!"

"That might seem to you that way, hedgehog girl, but you are forgetting that we are here on a more important mission. My master has a cursed arrow in his chest and it is his safety that you should be concerned about, not your needs and whims," Shahra stated, letting Amy give a little gasp and turn around.

"Oh yeah? And whose fault is that, exactly?" she asked, putting her hands on her rain-soaked hips, "I seem to recall he only has that problem because _you_ had to badger him in the first place."

"Amy-" Sonic began, but Shahra spoke first.

"I 'badgered' him, young one, because he is part of the ancient prophecy! It was neither my choice nor my fault, but as the legendary hedgehog and my master I have sworn to _protect_ and not distract him. That is my contract as genie of the ring and my promise."

Amy seemed non-impressed. "I don't care. Besides, I already put a gold ring on him, too, so don't you even _think_ you're special. See here?" Amy challenged, now raising her voice while actually taking a step toward Sonic and yanking him on the golden neck ring she had given him as a birthday gift last year, kindly ignoring the blue hedgehog's yelp at the action. Shahra's eyes narrowed as she drew a breath.

"Well, it just so happens that _my_ ring is magic, little pink girl!"

Amy's next words were spoken through her teeth.

"_You can take your magic ring and shove it up your magic-!"_

"GIRLS!" Sonic was horrified. He had yanked himself loose from Amy's grip, but it hadn't helped him much since both females were now staring at him. Amy opened her mouth first.

"Sonic, I've had it up to _here_ with that genie! She's supposed to be a servant and she keeps insulting me!"

"Because you act as unreasonable as you are young! You are a girl and as such you should be in the kitchen or in the harem, but not roughhousing about!"

"_That's not true!" _

"_That's not true!" _

At least the last two sentences were yelled in unison by both genie and hedgehog.

Sonic at this point shot a slightly panicky glance at Knuckles and Tails, but if by unspoken agreement, both just looked away and studied the cave walls, their demeanour conveying the 'You're on your own for this one, bro' –message very directly.

Sonic covered his face with his hands.

"Sonikku, I think you should tell your genie that bestiality is _not_ accepted in the world where we come from. I think she might need the hint," Amy scathed, ignoring Shahra's exclamation and the hero's sudden fierce blush. Knuckles finally stepped forward.

"Hedgehog, settle this. I have no nerve for any more of _their_ antics when I have to deal with yours already."

"Uh…" Sonic raised a finger, but found words failed him as the stares of both Shahra and Amy focused on him again like starved lionesses having suddenly discovered a spiky hamburger, obviously waiting for him to make a decision which girl should back off. "I…" the hedgehog tried again. "I…."

He turned around and walked off. "…I need to go save the world."

"_Now just wait a minute!" _

As predicted, Knuckles' grip of steel landed on his shoulder and prevented him from escaping. "Listen, blue boy, we're all going to die if this sitcom continues and you know it," the echidna growled, "If these two argue and fight while we're attacked the next time, someone's going to get hurt. So, if you don't want to _be_ that someone, I suggest you do something about that genie servant and girlfriend of yours now!" he commanded, pushing a protesting Sonic back toward the females.

"Goddammit, Knux, Shahra's _not_ my servant - _and Amy definitely not my girlfriend_!"

The next thing, of course, was Knuckles' prophecy fulfilled by a hammer connecting straight with the back of a blue-spiked head.

"You _JERK__!_"

"I'm sorry, 'Master'," Shahra said in an uncharacteristic dead-pan, "she was so fast I did not see it coming and could not protect you. It must be no wonder you do not desire me as your servant when she is around." And with that, the genie vanished into a puff of smoke, while Amy stomped off ahead. Sonic merely continued lying face down on the ground, contemplating curling up and dying for a bit. Or maybe proposing to Knuckles, just to deter _any _girls once and for all.

_Heh. If only him socking me in the jaw for that would be any less painful than Amy hitting me with her hammer. _

"S-Sonic? Are you okay?" Tails asked, cautiously bending down and lifting one drooping blue ear of his hero. This scenario had happened many times before, though, so he wasn't particularly worried.

"Ihakemirls."

"What?" The little fox blinked at this seemingly nonsensical statement while his big brother finally made an effort to lift his face from the floor.

"'I hate girls', I believe," Knuckles translated unperturbedly, examining his gloves, while Sonic rubbed the back of his head with a moan. If the object of Amy's attention had been anyone other than him, _without_ six solid spines protecting their skull from any hammer blows, the echidna was pretty sure the insane girl would be wanted for manslaughter by now.

They continued on through the cave in silence (only interrupted by Sonic's occasional groaning) and passed small boats as well as sections where the water came up to their ankles and the splashing sounds echoed through the stone passages as if there were ghosts walking beside them. They even came along actual treasure chests, which were the first thing that actually elicited the echidna's interest, but sadly turned out to be empty. There were also traces of enemies now, but, since Amy had passed through these parts before them…

"Ugh. It's splattered all over the walls," Sonic remarked, crinkling his snout in disgust.

"There's a starfish here," Tails said with wide eyes and looking down at the floor. "But it's, uh, the flattest and deadest I've ever seen."

"And apparently there was a trap here," Knuckles pointed forwards, where the ground turned into an upward incline dotted with wooden ramps. "Loads of spike balls would have come rolling towards us over those. I must admit I am impressed how she managed to hit them hard enough for them to become embedded in the ceiling." He indicated the giant death stars now wedged into the rock above their heads. Sonic whimpered a little.

"There she is," Tails said once they had ascended the light slope that led out of the coral cavern, where Amy stood leaning against the wall with one hand, twirling her hammer on the floor with the other. Knuckles raised an eye ridge.

"Another hammer. I thought you could only summon two a day here?"

Amy glanced at him, jade eyes glinting through wet bangs like a knife in the dark. "I created this one with _rage._"

"Lovely. Now, how about we move on…?" Sonic replied with a bit of artificial cheerfulness in his slightly higher than usual voice, probably leaving his phrasing deliberately ambiguous here.

"Into the rain again. I hate having to fly when my tails are this waterlogged," Tails sighed at the dreary sight before them – a rickety wooden boardwalk was leading out of the cave, the slippery wood haphazardly nailed together and wedged into the rock wall to their right while far below them the sea roared as if demanding a sacrifice for their passage. The entire contraption didn't look like it was going to hold if they tried to cross it. Sonic looked up, blinking against the rain pelting their faces, and noticed a couple of giant swords rammed horizontally into the wall a couple of meters above the boardwalk. He tilted his head.

"Say…Knuckles, you could crawl across the stone wall, right?"

"I could," the echidna stated. "But I hope you're not planning on making me carry you lot."

"Nope," the hedgehog shook his head. "Tails can run across with Amy and catch her if the bridge breaks. As for _me_…"

He grinned and leapt.

"Those swords were probably thrust in there by the gargoyles," Tails ventured, turned to Knuckles, "When you were thinking that you were Sindbad the Sailor, Shahra said that it was part of their festivities to throw giant weapons from their floating fortresses."

"Yeah," the echidna replied dryly. "Were they also intended to be used as a trampoline by clinically insane hedgehogs?"

"Wo-_hoo_! Boing! _Woo_!"

"Probably not," Tails admitted. "Come on, Amy, let's get going…"

The pink girl hmmphed, but took his hands obligingly, letting the fox carry her across the rotten part of the wooden boardwalk until it looked more stable, while Knuckles simply latched himself onto the rock wall and crawled across it like a dread-locked spider, leaving fist-shaped holes behind. Sonic, of course, was jumping from giant sword hilt to sword hilt above their heads, using the bending of the steel to catapult himself from one to the next. Tails thought he had heard Knuckles mumbling something about the echidna wishing the hedgehog would land on a sword blade side up.

They reunited on the safe side, continuing on the wooden path through a stone arch in the cliff landscape, where the boardwalk began to slope downwards again, once more leading down to the water's surface in the bay. Again, rusty shuriken stars restlessly cutting back and forth through the air were barring their way, but Sonic dodged with grace, Tails simply lifted Amy above them and Knuckles bringing up the rear ended their existence with a single, well-timed punch.

"What are _Japanese_ weapons doing in this sort of western world, anyway?" the hedgehog girl asked later, looking back at the disfigured metal pieces, only twitching weakly on the ground anymore after the echidna Guardian had finished dealing with them. A puff of smoke signaled Shahra's appearance almost immediately, the genie apparently unable to resist her role as Exposition!Fairy even when she was cross.

"They're a trap left behind by the ninja from the eastern realms," she explained without looking directly at Amy, her voice dark. "The feud between them and the pirates is as merciless as unrelenting and has been going on since the dawn of time."

There was a pause.

Amy frowned. "That is about the _silliest_ thing I've ever heard."

"Come on, Ames, let's not start this again," Sonic said quickly as Shahra took an insulted breath. "Look at that giant wreck over there, maybe we're finally getting to where those pirates we're looking for have their headquarters…"

The vessel the hedgehog had indicated was indeed massive. The sea had turned even darker and stormier during the time they had spent inside, but the waves weren't able to budge the stranded ship even one inch. Masts with shreds of torn sails ripped off less sturdy vessels were poking out of the waters like bones of corpses and threw thin, ghostly shadows when jagged lightning split the sky. The windows of the largely intact shipwreck were emanating an eerie turquoise glow as it lay on its side, a large hole torn into its flank where it had crashed against the rocks, gaping at them like an open wound, both inviting and daring them to go in. A path of planks and swimming debris was the only way toward it and waves were splashing across it at regular intervals. They started running.

Knuckles' eyes narrowed. "There's a large gap coming up. Tails or the genie will have to fly us all over, it's too far even for me to glide."

"He'll have to carry _you_ guys," Sonic smirked. "Me, I'm gonna make myself a path through Erazor's minions," he said, indicating the flailing green monsters where the boardwalk stopped and the sea rushed below them. The fox' brow creased.

"Sonic, these passages are getting more dangerous to pass every time," he said, sharp vulpine canines digging into his lower lip, "Really, you should let me carry you across. I know you don't like water, you don't have to pretend for me that it doesn't scare you."

Surprised emerald eyes shot the little fox a glance, before Sonic actually dropped onto one knee in front of his kid brother, smiling. "Thanks, li'l buddy," he said. "But honestly, it's fine. This is going better than expected, really. I'm hoping that maybe if I can manage this, my aquaphobia won't be as bad anymore afterwards. I'm the one always going on about facing your fears, right?" he asked, giving his soggy little brother a wink. Sonic wasn't even lying. Even if his adrenaline glands were still running on overdrive and he'd rather be anywhere but here, he had so far avoided the complete paralysis and panic attacks that usually accompanied any confrontation with water…maybe overexposure had been the trick all along?

"Well…if you say so," Tails replied reluctantly, not looking at Sonic until the older Mobian finally ruffled his sodden head fur, eliciting a small surprised squeal from the kit, who proceeded to shake his head immediately, sending droplets flying in all directions.

"Hey, stop it!" he laughed, ducking out from his older brother's hand. "Focus on not drowning first, Sonic, okay?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," the older hedgehog smiled and gave one of his trademark thumbs-up to his kid brother. Knuckles snorted and muttered something about not needing any more sugar right now and having to go for little Guardians for a moment anyway. As the echidna stalked off to vanish behind a rock they had rounded on their way down, Sonic turned toward the gap again, where two of Erazor's green-patterned djinn were floating senselessly over the waves churning beneath them. Toes in drenched sneakers coiled just before the hero of Mobius launched himself into the air, prepared to homing-attack, crash into and bounce off them, using them as he had the GUN beetles so many times before.

And then, things went suddenly so very wrong.

"Wha-?" As if it had never been there, the monster in Sonic's path had suddenly vanished. Sonic's eyes widened in shock, his jump now without a warning transformed from aerial artistic feat into a graceless and lethal tumble. The hedgehog uncurled in mid-air only in time to see the waves coming up to swallow him akin the jaws of an unrelenting, ageless beast, the white foam of their tips spraying like saliva. Everything seemed like slow-motion to Sonic, as he tried to twist around in mid-air and throw his arms out to his friends.

"_Tails__!_" he screamed and now, panic rode on his words while the young fox had already leapt from the end of the boardwalk, small hands stretching to catch his brother.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted, soaked appendages propelling so fast, droplets were flying away from them with even greater force than the rain still falling from the leaden sky. Amy shrieked…

Tails caught Sonic's hand.

"I've got yo-!"

Within a second, the soaked glove had slipped off Sonic's fingers, ring and all.

"NO!"

Sonic cried out as he could feel himself sliding out of his friend's grasp, Tails' fingers closing on his glove and Shahra's ring as his peach-furred hand had been to slick to hold on to.

"Grab me!" Tails screamed, thrusting his other arm out to get a hold of Sonic. He _had_ to catch him…

A wave came and the young fox thought he would never be able to forget to look of pure, absolute terror in those emerald eyes before the water collapsed on top of the blue hero.

"SONIC!"

Tails wailed at the top of his lungs, floundering in the air as the wave had nearly hit him, too. He tried to regain his balance, blinking through the rain and saltwater running down his face, but Sonic, his hero, friend and brother was gone.

"Sonic! _No!_" Tails screamed, wildly looking around to see something, _anything,_ apart from the churning, tempest-tossed and corpse-grey waters and the wooden debris floating within it, a shape underneath the water, a hand, a quill, a red sneaker breaking through the surface, but Sonic had been swallowed up as if he had never even been there. The kit knew his brother sank like a stone and he had no idea how deep the water was or how strong the currents of this hostile, hungry sea. There was not a chance the hedgehog could survive this.

Tails dove.

"_DON'T!_"

A hand suddenly closed around one of his appendages, yanking him backwards onto the boards. Amy looked at him, terrified, but her grip was like steel. "If you jump in there, you'll drown!"

"But _Sonic_ is in there!"

"I _know_!" Amy shouted back, tears on her face indistinguishable from the rain and the spray, but she wouldn't break down yet. "You can't help him if you die in there! If you want to find Sonic, you need to fly!" Her gaze suddenly focused on something in the kit's right paw. "What is this?"

"His – his glove, it slipped-" Tails started, finally unclenching his right hand still holding the last remnant of Sonic the Hedgehog, a soaked, white glove, frayed and dirty but undeniably his. And Tails suddenly felt as cold as if not Sonic, but _he_ had been swallowed by the waves. "Oh…oh no…"

"You took his ring!" Amy exclaimed in shock, her jade eyes staring at the golden circlet still sitting on one of the empty glove's fingers. "That means…the genie can't save him…" her voice almost seemed to break at those last words. Tails stared wordlessly at her, the complete horror of their situation only hitting them now in the full. Tails felt as if he was about to throw up.

"You need to fly high up," Amy said, swallowing. "See if you can see him from above. I'll get Knuckles, but unless you actually see Sonic, don't you _dare_ jump into the water, you hear me? And hold on to that ring!"

"Yes," Tails nodded quickly, glad to know what to do, glad that he wasn't alone in this storm that had just taken his brother. He lifted off almost immediately, fighting to gain altitude in the tempest, trying to discern anything against the waves in the bay. Below him, Amy ran.

xxx

Sonic hadn't even had time to scream before the water collapsed on top of him. It hit his system like a sledgehammer, driving thought from his brain and air from his lungs. The hero of Mobius struggled desperately, the sheer, unadulterated panic he had managed to suppress all this time now coming to overwhelm him. He tried to scream for Tails to save him, but water rushed into his mouth and sent him coughing wildly as he was sucked into the undertow within fractions of a second. This was his worst nightmare. His vision started failing. This was a nightmare he would never wake up from again. Sonic tried kicking, running, helplessly flailed in the hope to grab onto at least something, _anything_, that would save him from drowning, but his fingers grasped only water, found nothing but cold.

_No – Shahra, PLEASE…! _Sonic tried to gargle underwater, yet the genie wasn't there – only half-conscious anymore, Sonic realized that Tails had taken the ring with him. The space in his head was empty now, the comforting voice of Shahra no longer present and there was nothing that could save him. The drowning hedgehog still tried to fight the current, but his struggles were growing weaker…his last air bubbles escaped from his lungs like silver pearls, rising to the surface he could no longer reach…the water wrapped icy cold arms around him like a lover long dead and the waves whispered into his ear that they would never let go.

_Amy…Knuckles…Shahra…Tails, I'm sorry…_

And then he blacked out, a darkness as eternal as on the ocean floor thousands of feet underwater eclipsing his consciousness.

xxx

Only fifteen. She was only fifteen, but she was still older than Tails and that meant she had at that moment felt responsible. Her honey-coloured harem shoes pounded over the wet boards as she was running through the storm to reach Knuckles, to tell him what had happened so he could help them set things right, save Sonic. She was too young. She couldn't bear the thought of him actually dying in those stygian waters, all alone in the dark and the cold. She needed to find Knuckles - he was constantly grumpy and lived alone and secluded and didn't like traveling with them and made dry and sarcastic remarks and that always, _always_ meant that when the catastrophe happened to the hero someone like him would know what to do, right?_!_

xxx

The echidna in question just straightened up again, having finished his business and turned around to walk back to the group. He wasn't looking forward to their company, but was left with little choice – after all, if Sonic wasn't able to save this world, they'd be trapped here forever, and he _had_ to get back to Angel Island.

"Damn you, hedgehog," he muttered. "I don't know whether it's your fault for getting caught up in this or not, but sometimes I wish you'd at least actually _notice_ how dangerous your madcap adventures are."

He passed through the stone arc he'd used as a cover for decency while taking care of his natural needs and almost collided with a crying Amy.

"Knuckles!" she screamed, "Sonic has fallen into the sea and he's _gone_!"

…_I hate story worlds that fulfill your wishes.__  
_

xxx

Emerald eyes slowly opened, blinking against the rain still pelting his face. He felt utterly, completely, wretchedly _awful_.

Wait. He still _felt_…?

_I'm alive…_

"Where...am I?"

(Note: It should be stated that Sonic the Hedgehog of course hated to sound clichéd. But it's funny how originality sometimes can become so unimportant when you've just swallowed enough salty liquid to burst your lungs. Seconds later the question was irrelevant anyway as Sonic's stomach told its owner that in its humble opinion they were on a small (swaying) boat and also that in its opinion small (swaying) boats were there to be vomited from.)

"Hurgh!"

Sonic's hand shot up to the railing with the precision only the desperate and truly nauseous possess. The hero of Mobius heaved himself up onto his knees and as soon as he could see the water beneath him, his stomach was already relieving itself of its liquid contents. When it was over and he sacked back against the wet wood, Sonic thought he'd felt enough water leave his insides to fill a small aquarium and also something he very deeply hoped hadn't been a completely live small fish. The hero of Mobius groaned.

_Chaos, how did I-?_

"Finally awake?"

"What…?" Sonic blinked at the unexpected address, wrenching himself around on the ground to look at the one that spoken to him. He realized he was on a small rowing boat, hardly ten feet long, and there was only one other person beside him on it, so he assumed he was talking to his rescuer. The boat was still tossed about by the waves and dancing on the sea like a butterfly in a thunderstorm, but the other one was standing above him with crossed arms as if the wild rocking was a mere inconvenience. Sonic still on his knees stared at his saviour and emerald eyes grew wide. He was a Sapient, like him, but ragged as rain and wild as thunder. He was wearing a red bandana under which black dread locks spilled down his back, dripping onto his grubby white shirt that exposed his furry chest and hung loosely off his arms with wide sleeves gathered at the wrists. It was tucked into brown pants that ended in dark leather boots with flaring cuffs, squeaking when he shifted his weight on the wet planks. The ensemble was completed by a long, grey vest that came down to over his hips and two heavy leather belts as well as a bleached, sodden red cloth slung around his slender waist into which the barrels of two guns seemed to be tucked. Finally, there was a tricorne perched atop his head, held there slightly unconventionally by two triangular ears protruding through holes at the side.

And _then_, there was the whole thing with the black fur, red streaks, blazing crimson eyes and white (if currently grimy) patch of chest fluff, of course.

Sonic finally managed to close his mouth again.

"_Shadow?_!_" _

The other hedgehog gave him a very long, condescending stare.

"I don't know how you know my name, blue-furred stranger…" he said, simultaneously reaching for his drenched hat, oblivious to the lightning that split the sky and threw his face into dark profile.

"But to you, that's _Captain _Jack Shadow."

_To be Continued…

* * *

_

I've been waiting for AGES to write that scene. So much fun. Almost worth having to play through that $%§#&$ pirate level for a felt fantastillion times. :P And believe it or not, this very passage was planned since chapter one. ;) Well, hope you liked, also hope there's actually still people reading this story and if you did, please review? :3 Any questions pertaining to 'How did HE get in there?' and/or 'WTF, Disney movies?" will be considered and hopefully answered when it's time for

**Chapter 30: Avast! - He's A Pirate **;)

And I think I gotta rewatch At World's End now.

P.S.: Did I mention we have FANART of this fanfic now? *highly excited* Please find the link at the bottom of my profile and a BIG thank you to JIN-TONIX, the wonderful artist!


	30. He's A Pirate

**kharmachaos: **Naw, no worries, being the huge Shadow-fangirl that I am, I couldn't wait to bring him in, either. Thanks for commenting!

**Takhrenixe: **I wish I had. I was SO disappointed that the pirate level didn't feature a pirate-ified Sonic character! And na, you gotta read that passage again – Sonic wasn't thousands of feet underwater (he would be quite dead O.o) he was 'swallowed by a darkness LIKE thousands of feet underwater' :P Subtle, but life-saving difference. Other than that, thanks for your lovely review! :D

**SonicDude87: **The reference is gonna branch out into a solid parody. Thanks for the comment!

**The Dunes of Hazard: **XD at the Knuckles comment.^^ Of course, on the Jack front I'd have to differ, there's Captain Jack from Torchwood, there's that horrid Captain Jack song...heck, even when I worked on a boat, my Captain was called Jack! XD

**petite-dreamer: **Really? I love pirates way more, they have all the fun and better soundtracks! XD And yes, Depp is 2nd fav actor here, and Shadow 2nd fav Sonic character – sooo, yeah, after I already crossed Sonic and Tennant!Doctor, this had to be next. ;) Thanks for the comment!

**DgShadowChocolate: **Thanks!^^ And yeah, Sonic knows how to set priorities...:P

**Omicron the IceQueen: **Thanks! XD (Try not to hit the sugar too hard...;))

**St. Noof: **Heh, the pirate thing is mostly due to me being *really* disappointed that Shadow wasn'z in the game, and, furthermore, wasn't a pirate. And the endboss in this level isn't in the actual Arabian Nights, either. Fffft, if they don't stick to canon, I can do my own jokes, too. :P $%$/&*! or anything along those lines is usually old-fashioned comic swearing. ;)

**lokoforsonic9559: **Heh, I hope you _could _wait after all. Thanks for reviewing! :D

**Tanigi: **No worries, I take ages with updating, after all.^^° The 'felt eternity' has nothing to do with 'felt' the fabric, though, rather it's a timespan that only *feels* like an eternity, hence a 'felt eternity'. Makes sense? :P About the other part you're right, though, I need to fix that. Damn, I wish I had an editor.^^° Thanks a lot for your detailed comment! :)

**Teribane: **XD Glad I could deliver. ;)

**Some Random Tosser: **Oye, British, mate, are we? :P Glad you like! And yeah, I was working on that Sonic drowning scene for quite a while, so happy to hear it worked!^^

**Captiosus: **Captain Jack Shadow already has a fanbase. Awesome. XD Thanks for the review and the...internets? ;)

**amyfan4ever: **Sounds all great, if you ask me. :P Meanwhile, I might try to update quicker, how about that...? XD

**TenkaCat: **Maybe. Just a tad. Why do you ask? XD And uh-huh, mood whiplash seems to be a general thing of all my stories...happy to hear people seem to like it, thanks for the comment!

**The Dmgirl: **No worries, all shall be explained. But after all, he's not our first non-canon addition to the group. Thanks for the review!

**Wirewolf: **XD Thanks! That's what I was going for :)

**nemiah: **Heh, I couldn't draw any at all.^^° Just not talented enough...this story basically started with the idea of 'Why the hell would Tails say he is Ali Baba' when I played the game, though. The rest constructed itself from there. :)

**Harbinger of Chaos: **Heh, when I was playing the game I was SO hoping that Shadow would be a pirate and was disappointed when he wasn't. So, glad people like his appearance. :) And of course, banter between Sonic characters is *much* fun to write, so that's not gonna stop any time soon. ;) Thanks for the nice review!

**Ri2: **Who even _likes _water levels, right? (bows) Thanks, appreciated!^^

**inujisan: **Thanks! :D

**Tutis 75: **Here ya go! :P

**LordxxAxelxxLover: **Glad to please...hope your head is okay ;)

**Avitala: **My feelings exactly. XD As for his character, no idea yet, probably a mix of the two. :P Thanks for your review, as always! :D

**MegaMagikarp: **Yes, I know. XD Tv Tropes Has Ruined My Life...But VERY happy to hear that this story has started its own CMOF-collection, thanks!^^

**Double Dee Dee: **Thanks, I love reviews! :)

**Zeh Hyperactive Author: **XD You're living up to your name. :P Thanks!^^

**Skyblaze: **That...is awesome. I should have been listening to that while I wrote this one, but I went with the Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack to avoid nightmares later. (I _hate _drowning in games :P) And yeah, glad you liked our fav black hedgie! He *would* be an awesome addition to our imaginary room full of Sonic and Shadow incarnations, no? :P

**janiemanie1993: **Nah, you gotta read the books! They're really entertaining. :) Thanks for commenting!^^

**Asher Tye: **(grins) glad I could live up to expectations. ;) Now, Captain Jack Shadow was mainly born from me being seriously peeved that he didn't show up in the game. ;) And him meeting up with Amy – you bet! XD Plus, Shahra has to recharge her magic or something beforehand any way, so...;) Yeah, a few more adventures with the dear Captain still to come. And yes, when you will consider the abuse I'm going to throw at Knuckles in this chapter alone, I think he very much wants to smother Sonic by now...or me. XD Hope you like the new instalment! :)

**YumeTakato: **Thanks! :D

**Lack of Existence: **Hey thanks, that's nice of you! :) And hey, no worries, 'mood whiplash' is basically what my stories are made of.^^° Hope you didn't wake anybody up, although Captain Jack Shadow IS pretty cool, so I hope there's no hard feelings over squeal-related consequences. XD

**TheAimlessOne: **(bows) Thanks! If I was to fill the entire PoTC cast, the roles of Pintel and Ragetti would probably either go to Bean and Bark or Scratch and Grounder, but the latter two might rust...XD But...you seriously want to go on holidays in THIS world? Read the chapter and think again...but thanks for the comment! :D

**TorpeGraveYard1031: **A Sonic/Phantom crossover _would _be cool, yes...although I probably would be tempted to make it sonadowy X3. But glad you liked the internet references, hope this chapter entertains you as well! :)

**barrel7: **You're welcome! :D Yes, I like to balance out the humour and the drama, although my fanfic 'Life...' is probably even more guilty of that style. Over here, it's humourous...mostly. Except for this water level, which is nearly all horror. But thanks for the review! :)

**Lupus Silvae: **Heh, glad you liked! And yes, most of Sonic's mishaps in these levels are very much related to my own face-palm parts of the level when I played it...:P But now I'm done! XD Thanks for the review, please enjoy! :)

**Luigifan1: **Hello again! And heh, yes, poor Shadow. Though if I had to pick a character that suffers most in this chapter, it's probably Knuckles. :P Thanks for another detailed review, hope you like! :D

**coolshadowblader: **Heh, sorry, but I personally can't draw at all. ;) If you found anyone willing to draw a fanart, though, I'd be delighted. :P

**Cstan: **Heh, glad you like, happy to have you aboard! And yes, the 'cheating' part of this fanfic is VERY much fun, mostly because this means I can go to my happy place in my mind whenever this game frustrated me to no end when playing it. XD And I also have a feeling that when this chapter is over, Sonic's fear of water will have increased a thousandfold, but that's just me...:P Thanks for your long and detailed review! :)

**Ngandu the Croc: **Wow! Once again, longest comment of this chapter, thanks!^^ And such a nice one, too! I have to say, where everything containing lasting damage to Sonic is concerned, as always, that was mostly JudasFm's fics which showed me first that Sonic fanfic wasn't all cheerful running around. Shadow usually gets bashed around worse, though, he's kind of like my Mr. Spock...^^° And as for Shahra, no worries. What we just witnessed was basically the climax of the confrontation, so expect a few breaks for her as well, I'm not *that* cruel :P And heh, employing every trope and trick in the literary book to get ahead in a book? XD That is a very cool idea, and sth like that is actually planned...but you'll have to read on to find out, that's still future stuff :) Once again, thanks for commenting and hope you have fun with this one!

**Sunny Lighter: **Neither can I. Thanks for the review! :D

**Plot Hole Digger: **You bet he has. :P Hope you like the new chapter! ;)

**The Andromeda Rose: **It's here, no worries. ;)

**ShadowPhantom14: **See chapter title XD Thanks for commenting!

**Zefiren: **(bows) Thank you!^^ And yes, I try to portray most characters in a much more positive light, actually, that way, it's much more fun reading about them. Games!Amy also makes me want to hit my head against the TV. :P Thanks for commenting! :D

**CerberAsta: **(grins) Thanks!^^

**ArmalRavenwing: **No worries, we authors _love_ several reviews ;) And nope, Knuckles is Sindbad because that's how it is in the game, I stick to canon when I can. :P All of them, I hope. XD Thanks for commenting!

**PikaKnight: **I'll try :) Thanks!

**XXKuriXx: **Heh, that's mainly practice :) Glad you like the story! If you're writing yourself and aren't content with your skills yet, a beta reader also works wonders^^

**SonamyFureva13: **Really? A Shadow fangirl with that screen name? :P But glad you like it! XD

**SamuraiSal1: **XD XD I had to laugh at your pairing comment.^^ Although certain...implications...notwithstanding, I shall have to stick to canon in this one, so there's only undertones of three you shall find in here ;) As for the whole Shahra/Amy thing, heh, you've just arrived in time for that to become resolved, actually. :P I know that I'm technically terrible, having my female characters act in such an idiotic manner over a guy and basically confirming every sexist cliché in the book when I'm a girl myself, but mostly Rule of Funny applies for anything I write...but last chapter was basically the climax, so expect a resolution that hopefully respects the characters a little more in this one. ;) Thanks so much for that detailed review! :D

**Idalia: **And? :P Found differences yet? ;) Thanks for commenting!

**CrazyNutSquirrel: **Heh, for me it's ranked Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, but glad you like!^^

* * *

**Disclaimer: If I owned this Game, all of the characters would need therapy.**

**Chapter 30: Avast! - He's A Pirate**

"Knuckles! He's gone! He fell into the water _and he's gone_!" Amy was sobbing into the echidna's chest fur at the moment, the two Mobians standing atop the rickety boardwalk in the middle of the churning, wild sea, waves crashing against the wood and their bodies. The Guardian of the Master Emerald was right now absolutely clueless what to do, a crying girl clinging to his Sindbad vest something he never had to deal with before. Of course, Amy was suffering from a panic attack but he couldn't very well slap her out of it – with his strength, that always bore the danger of giving someone a concussion by accident. Fortunately, a fox descending screaming from the sky solved the problem almost immediately.

"Watch OUUUUUUUOUFF!"

"AH!" Knuckles cried out as Tails crashed into both him and Amy, sending them both onto the boards and it was only the echidna's quick reflexes that saved them all from slithering off the boardwalk and into the sea.

"I can't _find_ him!" Tails' eyes were wide and despairing, little hands still grasping the glove of his lost brother, "The storm is too strong, I can barely keep myself in the air, and I can't properly see _anything _in the sea, he's nowhere!"

Knuckles could feel his face harden at this news, the two younger Mobians atop him now equally distressed. He pushed himself back onto his feet, grabbing both their wrists to upright them as well and keep them standing still before either of them could do anything stupid. It wasn't the first time Sonic had gotten himself into trouble and left Knuckles to deal with frightened sidekicks, but now the red-furred Guardian found himself seriously hoping it also wouldn't be the _last_.

"Okay. Don't panic. We will find him," he said, dark violet eyes holding fearful sky blue and jade green gazes of fox kit and hedgehog girl to calm them down. The thing he didn't mention was that the best chances of finding a cobalt-furred hedgehog amid murky blue waters underneath midnight blue sky were when he was already floating belly-side up.

"But – but what if he's already _drowned_?" Amy finally burst out, tears on her cheeks mixing with the pouring rain as she voiced all their thoughts aloud. Sonic and water were the worst combination imaginable...

"He is not dead."

"Huh?" All three Mobians turned at the new voice and eyes widened as they recognized the fourth member of their team, who looked near-transparent and a lot more ethereal than usual, pale enough to seem sick, but still there.

"The legendary hedgehog is still alive," she said again, her voice seeming to gain strength as she spoke, brushing her copper hair out of her face as she was looking around like someone just woken from unconsciousness. Tails only blinked at the ring still lying on his palm, but Amy immediately was in her face, hands clasped as if in prayer.

"Are you sure?" she gasped, and for the first time, there was no maliciousness in her voice as she addressed the genie, just pure hope that the spirit wasn't lying. Shahra nodded.

"Yes...I have lost my mental bond with him and briefly lost consciousness as my ring was taken off his finger, but he is undeniably still breathing."

"How do you know?" Knuckles asked, voice hoarse. He _wished_ for Sonic to be alive, sure, but how to confirm that their search wouldn't be in vain...?

"Because of the very nature of this world, Guardian," Shahra said, and for the first time there was a slight smile on her lips again. "We are in the realm of stories and legends, imagination and myth, and if a hero dies, this world would stop to mourn him. The thunder would cease, the beasts of the forests cry out and the angels of death descend from heaven to carry him home. Sonic the Hedgehog is _alive_."

xxx

"Uh...so, Captain Jack Shadow, yeah?"

"That's right," the black hedgehog with the pirate hat replied evenly, crossing his arms. "Feared across all the seven seas." He cocked an eye ridge and suddenly, red eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Are you _laughing_?"

"Never!" Sonic assured him quickly, trying very hard to bite his tongue (before he could ask Shadow whether he possibly got the sword at his side from Toys 'ARRRRR' Us...). It was a good sign that he was already in the mood to make jokes again – not that the Ultimate Captain in front of him made that terribly hard – especially considering they were still on a small, rocking boat and Sonic had only noticed just now that his glove and ring were gone. He swallowed a bit at the thought of Shahra lying on the ocean floor, but told himself that Tails had to have caught her instead. Now it was just a matter of finding his friends again, who undoubtedly were worried sick. Unfortunately, lack of genie also meant that Shadow wouldn't get his marbles back any time soon, either...

"You appear to have a flame burning on your chest," Shadow remarked with a raised eye ridge, pointing at the cursed arrow. Sonic for a moment wondered whether he should retort that Shadow also had the contents of a bead shop's rejection bin in his dreadlocks, but decided against it.

"I had a run-in with a slightly grumpy pink djinn," Sonic admitted. "But no worries, this thing usually doesn't set stuff aflame. Thanks for fishing me out, by the way" the blue hero added, a weak smile on his face as he was forcing his drenched and battered body to climb up onto one of the benches of the small rowing craft. "Say, is there any chance we could go back to shore? I kinda have some friends that are probably looking for me..."

"No," Shadow shook his head. "We can't. Someone stole my _boat_."

There was a moment of silence.

"Um..." Sonic wasn't quite sure how to say this. He only vaguely remembered the character he thought Shadow was trying to portray (Amy had dragged him into that human romance movie, and the only thing the blue speedster could really recall were the sword fights and the undead zombie pirates, because they had been _cool_), but now he couldn't help but wonder whether the original Captain Jack had ever been afflicted with any kind of mental condition. He tried anyway.

"But isn't _this_ a boat? Your boat?" he asked, pointing at the wet planks beneath their feet. The black hedgehog looked at him like perhaps Severus Snape would have, if you asked him whether the party magician cylinder with the stuffed rabbit was his.

"My _ship_," Shadow corrected him, "was stolen. I have to use this pathetic nutshell to hunt the thief down and get it back. Of course this isn't my regular vessel, I am a _Captain_."

"Oh yeah, must have slipped my mind for a moment, sorry," Sonic replied as dryly as was possible considering he was soaked to the bone. He shook his dripping quills briefly.

"But yeah, er, would you mind dropping me off at the shore with my friends beforehand?" _And let my genie restore your mind so I can mock you for all eternity with this? _

"No, I already told you," Shadow replied in a dead-pan. "First, we get my ship back."

"Right," Sonic crossed his arms, "And how are we supposed to do that?"

"You will row."

"Okay, wait, what? What am I, your cabin boy or something?" Sonic protested, spines bristling at the unmoved face of the other that was still coolly staring down at him. And then he swallowed, as the next thing he saw was one of the two guns that had just a second before looked so much less threatening pointed straight at his face.

"I _said_, row."

xxx

"But Shahra, _where_ is he?" Tails questioned, sky blue eyes a lot more hopeful, but still concerned. "I flew around and I couldn't see him anywhere in the storm. And how would he have survived and not drowned?"

"Well, if he has not fallen into a plot hole, I should think he managed to grab a piece of floating debris," the genie offered. "It's currently flood, so I do not think he has been dragged out to sea, yet he could be anywhere in this bay."

"That still isn't that great," Amy bit her lip. "Even if he's hanging in there for now, he could slip off any minute. We need to find him. We should split up."

"Yes. But you two stay together," Knuckles said immediately. "Take the genie as well."

"What?" Amy protested. "You treat us the same way Sonic treats us, as if none of us could look out for themselves! We have the best chances of finding him if everyone searches on their own."

Knuckles levelled a look at her. "I don't treat you the same way Sonic does. Wanna know why? Because that hedgehog would actually discuss this with you. I don't."

"But-!" Amy started up again, yet the echidna Guardian would have none of it.

"You three will stay on the land. Search the coastline, see if he has been washed up somewhere or is clinging to a rock. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is dangerous enough as it is, even if that blue airhead already failed to acknowledge that, and when we find said idiot, I don't want to have to explain to him that one of you three puggles was airhead enough to follow in his footsteps and drowned as well. Got that?"

"Uh...if we are to search on the land, how will you search the sea?" Tails asked, raising a finger.

"I am going to surf_,_" Knuckles replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"But you don't have a surf bo-" Amy began, as a last feeble protest, yet was interrupted when the echidna reached down leisurely, and, with no visible effort, tore a plank out of the boardwalk that was easily twice as long as him and as thick as a man's arm. "I am going to surf. You are going to search on land. _Got that?_"

All three of the remaining team members nodded frantically.

xxx

_I hate him. I hate him. I hate -_

"Faster."

"_I'm doing as fast as I can!"_ Sonic snapped at the black hedgehog who was still standing at the back of the boat with hands on his hips, operating the rudder with his foot, and generally annoying the hell out of the blue speedster whose arms were already hurting from all the rowing.

_Of all the hedgehogs in this book, *I* am the one with the weakest upper-body strength and who gets to be the one stuck paddling? This just isn't fair! _The hero of Mobius gritted his teeth as he gave another heave.

"Stupid faker. Stupid hat. Stupid non-sensical pirate twist. Chaos, I hope his mascara smudges. Stupid-"

"What did you just say?" Shadow interrupted his muttering, for a moment taking the telescope he had been peering through down and looking at Sonic again.

"Nothing," Sonic grumbled. He supposed he should be thankful that Shadow was here at all, because otherwise he would very likely be floating around as a corpse already, but man, this was grating. "Do you even know where we're going?" he asked 'Captain' Jack Shadow instead, if only to distract himself from the pangs in his upper arms.

"Of course," the dread-locked hedgehog replied with a sniff. He took a little black box from his belt, opened it and squinted briefly inside. "Still on course," he announced. "My compass – it shows me in which direction that which I truly desire lies," he explained to Sonic and the blue hero raised an eye ridge.

"Really. You know, where I come from, I actually know a hedgehog just like you. He could have needed one of those, it took him two cases of amnesia and one really bad video game that made no sense to figure that one out."

The black hedgehog looked at him. Then:

"You're a strange little rat. Keep rowing."

"I am _not_ a-! Oh, why do I even bother..."

xxx

"Where are we supposed to go?" Amy asked, the two younger Mobians already running as soon as Knuckles had launched himself into the sea.

Tails shook his head, droplets flying. "Keep moving forward through the wrecks. Chances are where there is debris, that's where the currents are headed."

"Right," the pink hedgehog nodded, "Let's head through this one, then, maybe we can see more on the other side," she said, the trio entering the large wooden vessel wedged into the rock through the hole torn into its side. It was the biggest of all the ships they had seen so far, its insides positively rambling. The deck they were on had crates stacked everywhere as if it had been a storage area in a cargo ship, the floor splintered in places and the ceiling had planks torn out where the light of the storm filtered through.

Also, it was filled with monsters.

xxx

"Your ship was stolen," Sonic remarked after he had been rowing for another few minutes, again turning to conversation when he had no other options left. Sure, he could have tried his luck with a mini-mutiny, but he was also pretty certain that a squabble between him and Captain Blackquill over there would have likely resulted in them both going overboard and this time, Shadow very probably wouldn't pull him out. So, polite conversation it was...

"Who did it?" the blue hedgehog asked curiously.

Shadow crossed his arms and looked away.

"It was stolen by a giant octopus, with a hat."

Sonic for a moment wondered whether he had swallowed just a tad too much salt water today.

"A...giant octopus...stole your ship."

"Technically, he was more of a mollusc, but yes."

"I presume it was a very _dangerous_ hat?" Sonic asked in what constituted as his 'talking-to-unstable-psychopaths-and-Shadow-in-one-of-his-moods'-voice. The black hedgehog rose and crimson eyes suddenly glinted like a knife.

"Are you making _fun_ of me?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Captain," Sonic replied dutifully, knowing that the _other _consequence of a fight would likely be that Shadow got his mascara all over him, and that would actually be worse.

"Good," Shadow replied, giving a brief nod, before resuming his position at the rudder. "And since you asked, it wasn't the _hat_ that was dangerous, but the horns."

Sonic briefly paused in his rowing.

"A _horned_ octopus?"

"Mollusc," Shadow corrected. "Or maybe a squid." He tilted his head. "Definitely not an octopus."

"Whatever! Stop saying octopus!" Sonic exclaimed. "Shadow, none of these are supposed to have horns! Or hats, for that matter," he added, somewhat confuddled by now.

The other gave him another condescending stare.

"That's _Captain_ Jack Shadow. And for your information, he did have horns, and they shot thunder."

Sonic groaned.

_Mental note: The next time you wind up in the Arabian Nights, you bring them a biology textbook..._

xxx

"Okay. Let's do this," Knuckles' tongue was poking out between his teeth as he uprighted himself on his improvised surfboard, the water roaring underneath the piece of wood that separated him from the bludgeoning force that were the waves. A gasp escaped the red-furred guardian as he nearly toppled over from the first swell to rock the board, but he managed to keep his balance. He hadn't lied about being quite the decent surfer, but usually, he had been out on the sea when it had been _sunny_!

"Sonic, if you survive this, I am going to kill you," Knuckles muttered under his breath, leaning a bit forward to increase his speed. The water rose up before him, and he had to lean right and left like a slalom skier far from home to avoid crashing into the wooden crates floating in the waters. And then he made it through a stone ark and saw the hugest wave he had ever seen heading right toward him.

"Oh, son of a-"

xxx

There were three of the bluish blobs right in front of them, rearing and shaking their horned heads, and Tails could vaguely discern one of the flame-spewing demons in the darker recesses of the ship ahead. For a moment he wondered whether Amy again would start screaming, seeing as monsters of this particular kind had drenched her in slime just this morning, but the girl next to him made no such move. Instead, she just summoned her hammer like a judge would, jade eyes fixating the jelly-like creatures through sodden pink bangs like burning chips of gemstone. Determination was rolling off Amy like waves.

"Tails. I'm going to charge at the two to the left, you take the one at the right. We need to get to the other side to continue the search for Sonic," she said, her light, high voice a stark contrast to her words.

"_N...no..."_

"Whu?" Tails could only reply, for a moment distracted by what he thought had been a voice in his head, but then Amy had already given a war cry and was running to attack, hammer held high. Her leather-clad feet pounded on the decayed boards, wet quills so much softer than Sonic's flying behind her. Tails was just about to lift into the air, his plan to deliver his own variation of a homing-attack at his designated opponent, as suddenly Shahra burst forth from the ring he had stuck onto his finger, and threw herself right in front of the pink hedgehog.

"Amy!_ Stop!_"

"What-?" Amy's eyes went wide at this surprising new development – and grew much wider still when the next thing that happened was the bluish slime monster suddenly exploding with an electric force field and Shahra screaming as she received the shock.

"Shahra!" Amy exclaimed, for a moment too flabbergasted to remember any resentment she was still supposed to be feeling for the genie, and then her usual fury for anyone who dared to hurt an undeserving creature immediately took over as her eyes darted back to the monster.

"You! What did you do to her_?_!" she yelled at the creature, and, when no answer came forth, wielded her hammer as soon as the forcefield collapsed and brought it down on the blob hard. She was splattered by blue goo instantly, of course, but this time, it merely made her cringe and screw her face up in disgust instead of sending her into a fit. She quickly knelt down next to the fallen genie, Tails also having broken off his attack as soon as he had heard the spirit girl scream.

"Shahra! Are you okay_?_!" the fox kit asked, dropping down onto the wet wood, sky blue eyes filled with concern. "I didn't know these monsters could _shock..."_

"No...that's what I tried to warn you..." Shahra managed to whisper, her form on the ground giving off trails of smoke as if she was about to evaporate, evidently in trouble to keep her form together. "You...have to time your attack just right with these creatures, their magic powers are otherwise lethal to mortals..."

"Uh, actually that's not magic but a high voltage biochemical reaction that-"

"Tails. Not now."

"Oh. Sorry."

"So you just...saved my life?" Amy asked, turning toward Shahra again, really not sure how she should feel about that. Guilt was one of the more popular options right now, but embarrassment and even...gratitude? also featured prominently.

"Yes," Shahra managed, finally raising her head as she seemed to gain some of her energy back. "No matter what, you are the friends of my Master. I know he would want me to protect you," she said, looking away. "It was my fault as a servant and guide that I did not warn you beforehand, this was the least I could do." Almond eyes closed in remorse and Amy for a moment could not help but also feel pity for her, if Shahra truly thought that she had deserved this pain. There suddenly was also a lump of shame in the pink hedgehog's throat, painfully remembering how she had treated the genie previously just because she had been so jealous that Shahra would steal Sonic away from her, even if her action just now had clearly shown that he genie's reasons for being territorial about Sonic might have been completely different from her own. Hesitatingly, she tried to lay a hand on the other girl's side.

"You...take this entire being-a-djinn thing really seriously, huh?" she asked quietly. Next to her, Tails was already fidgeting.

"Uh, Amy, these monsters are about to attack and we really should-"

"Can't you give her a minute?" the pink girl's gaze snapped back to him, seeming slightly irritated and for once almost...protective of the fallen genie. Tails had the sudden urge to back off.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, of course. I'll...take care of them myself. No problem," he said, certain that he'd much rather face freak electric sea monsters than a surly Amy.

"Good," Amy nodded. "Shout if you need help. Shahra and me will be right with you."

"Right," the fox kit swallowed before turning around to face their enemies that stood between them and safe passage through the ship. A bolt of lightning split the sky above them, announcing the arrival of a thunderstorm at last, and had his fur not been so sodden already, it would have stood on end by now. Tails _hated_ lightning. It was another one of those childish fears that only Sonic knew about and he wasn't here right now...

_Sonic. _The thought brought the little fox right on track again. He couldn't be afraid now, even if his personal nemesis weather pattern had arrived. He needed to find his brother and also, the two girls back there were counting on him to keep them both safe until Shahra had recovered, right?

_Yeah. That's what Sonic would do, _the two-tail told himself, hands curling into fists and around the ring he was still keeping safe for the blue hedgehog that meant the world to him. His turn to be a hero... He approached the first of the monsters warily, his sharp mind already aware that Shahra had said timing was everything here. A little fox tongue briefly poked out in between cream lips as the crackling forcefield burst forth as soon as he rose in the air, knowing that he'd only have a small window of opportunity when it broke down again. Sonic had taught him about reflexes and finding the 'rhythm' of an enemy. He could do this.

"_I trust in you, Envoy of Inari." _

Tails nearly fell out of the air as the voice in his head spoke for the second time.

"Sha-Shahra?" he gasped, all but avoiding crashing into the wobbling electro-slime.

"_Yes, Envoy. I am sorry for startling you. As long as you wear the ring, I can talk to you here. I am nearly ready to move on again, I just wanted to say thank you." _

"Tha-that's okay, Shahra, I am just doing what I can," Tails replied bashfully, still keeping his distance and waiting for the precise moment to attack. "How come you can talk to me? Sonic didn't just die and make me your new master, did he_?_!" he asked as a slightly panicked afterthought.

"_No," _the voice said with the mental equivalent of a head shake. "_Usually I can only talk to the current owner of my ring, but..." _There was a smile in the darkness. "_Sometimes I can circumvent this rule when there's a close relation to my Master by blood - or by heart. He calls you his brother, does he not?" _

"Yes," Tails confirmed. "That is why I need to find him more than anything," he said, knowing that if he was right, there would only be seconds to go now until the monster could hold up its barrier no longer. Five...four...

"_Yes, I could read that in your consciousness," _Shahra said again, sounding entirely honest, her mental voice warm. _"Bravery, love, loyalty...your mind is very similar to that of the Legendary Hedgehog, did you know?" _she asked. _"In the old legends, they would say you are of one soul. I can see why he chose you as a brother." _

Tails for a moment felt as if he had just hit an invincibility box in a video game. "Shahra..." he said, his chest suddenly filled with a warmth he hadn't felt ever since Sonic had been swallowed by the unrelenting waves, "That's the biggest thing anyone _ever-"_

And then the seconds were up, and Tails threw himself into battle with a cry worthy of someone at least two years older, and soon enough, a gold-furred body was bouncing in between shrieking monsters in the ship ahead of them with expert timing, tails, feet and a curled-up fox body dealing out attacks that would even have made Sonic proud.

xxx

"So, do you and that...hat guy...have a backstory, then?" the very same hedgehog asked at the same time in yet another valiant attempt to let these most recent developments make even remotely sense. He had to admit, considering he had currently been shanghaied by his genetically engineered rival who believed himself to be a pirate captain fighting against the bastard lovechild of a kraken and an electric eel, he thought he was doing rather well.

"Oh yes," Shadow nodded in response to his question. "His name is Captain Behemoth, and he and I have a very complex history, a feud going back decades, a tale of revenge and marauding most foul, of deals with the devil and Davy Jones himself," he said, his voice low and eyes suddenly intense. Sonic actually felt himself intrigued and bent forward.

"Well? Tell me more."

Shadow shrugged. "Unfortunately, it just confuses the hell out of everyone who hears it. Mind you, makes for one hell of an eight-hour trilogy, though."

"What?" Sonic stared at Shadow, for some reason feeling as if once again, a wall had shattered somewhere even though they were in the middle of a stormy bay. The black hedgehog continued as if he hadn't even heard him.

"And now he has taken my ship...and also the ring I had stolen from Sindbad the Sailor."

"A ring?" Now Sonic's ears had perked up again. "Are we talking about a magic ring?"

"...perhaps," Shadow replied with some suspicion that almost reminded the blue hedgehog of the other's real self. "Why are you interested in it?"

Sonic grinned. "No reason in particular. But I think we just got ourselves a common goal..."

xxx

The water crashed down on top of Knuckles with the force of a collapsing house and the echidna could feel the breath crushed from his lungs, seeing stars and streaks of his overstrained nervous system in the darkness underwater. He grasped the sides of the plank harder, muscles that could move boulders straining to keep their owner on top of the board, even as his body was battered from all sides. _Things _hit him underwater and the guardian of Angel Island squeezed his eyes tightly shut, holding his breath as he rode the wave out under the surface. The water roared in his ears as if he were in a thunderstorm. He couldn't drown. Not after he'd just had to discipline Tails, Amy and Shahra to make them stay together as a caution.

_Damn...you...Sonic..._

And then, his board finally broke the surface and it was over. Knuckles blinked, salt water trails running down his face and snout as he tried to survey his new situation. He was still being tossed about by the waves, but they were much smaller now. The _bigger_ problem was that the underwater ride had left him washed up with what appeared to be half the Great Barrier Reef on his board.

There were coral pieces stuck in his fur and unidentifiable slimy things oozing around on the wood to his side. A small fish managed to get back into the water with a brave flop, but that still left the miniature forest of algae the echidna was lying in. Knuckles sat back up with a groan.

"Chaos. I hope...wait," he cut himself off in mid-sentence. Something wasn't quite right...

His Sindbad head gear was gone, he noticed, but he felt as if something was still sitting on his skull. And there...suddenly appeared to be too _many_ dreadlocks hanging around his face...

Knuckles gave a very short scream as he yanked an obviously just as terrified octopus off his head. Apparently, the unfortunate sea creature had just tried to mate with what had seemed like a very pretty female at first sight.

"What are you doing_?_!" the echidna pulled a disgusted face as he stared at the little twitching octopus in his hand, the thing now rapidly changing colour in a desperate attempt to blend in with his glove and maybe elude the horrifying mammal's sight. Next, the only answer Knuckles got was a frightened squelching noise and then a very well-aimed shot of ink to his face.

"Gah!" the echidna yelped, shaking his hand out of reflex hard enough so that the heart-broken invertebrate was flung straight back into the sea, furiously wiping with his other glove at his face to be able to see again. At least, the rain was somewhat helping to wash the ink off faster...

Only to see the next giant wave coming toward him, and this one was three times as high as the one before.

_Mental note: Grow fins. _

xxx

"Wow, he has really been working on his attacks," Amy commented, shooting a brief glance at the fox kit dodging the fire attacks now and zooming his way toward the biggest of the djinn. She was still kneeling next to Shahra, the genie apparently slowly getting her magical stamina back so she could at least be of some help as an observer when they would venture out into the storm again. She nodded.

"Yes. I told him that I could feel how similar he is to the legendary hedgehog. I think it has improved his confidence," the copper-haired girl said, smiling slightly and letting Amy feel yet another stab of guilt as Shahra just had once again demonstrated how she was mostly only trying to help. The pink girl ran a hand through her quills.

"That was nice of you. And...thank you for saving my life as well," she managed, giving the genie a pained smile. "Listen, I'm sorry that I said some of the earlier things to you. You've just proven that you're so devoted to Sonic you're even willing to risk your life to protect even the ones important to him and I...I think I might have confused your intentions a little. Sorry," Amy said, one hand of hers fiddling with her Sheherazade tube top a bit in embarrassment. "As his girlfriend...or at least because I _want _to be his girlfriend," she admitted with a slightly pained smile, "I sometimes get more protective of him than I should," she said, and then immediately stocked as her eyes connected with Shahra's again. Because right now she could see in her eyes the exact same feelings she had seen so often in her own mirror and therefore could recognize anywhere. It was the gaze of a girl so sad and so desperately in love, that she would do anything to be with her beloved, even if she knew it was near impossible...

"Wait, Shahra, you _don't_ love Sonic_that _way, do you?" Amy asked again, rearing backwards and staring at the other with disbelief. And just when she thought she had figured the genie out...

But then Shahra shook her head.

"No. I am not..._in _love with Sonic. I am sorry if I worried you," she said, her voice now sounding a bit stronger even if this was obviously a difficult topic for her. "I admit at times I may have had some _confusing_ feelings for him, not fitting for your Master because he acted so...foreign and actually _nice_ to me, his servant," she said, her cheeks tainted bit darker as colour was returning to her transparent form and she put a hand over her mouth as if embarrassed herself by this admission. "But I think it was mostly because he reminded me of somebody else. Someone I knew a long time ago," Shahra said, and Amy could read in her eyes right then and there what that might have meant. The pink hedgehog bit her lip and then, tentatively tried to put one of her hands on Shahra's, gripping it gently, just as the genie finally was able to rise and sit up. The Mobian girl tried a small smile as she faced the spirit.

"Genies have the same feelings then too, huh?" she asked, her cream lips twitching just slightly. Shahra nodded.

"Yes. Even we have hearts that can be broken."

"Shahra..." the spirit girl actually looked up again as suddenly, her hands were encircled by Amy's, and the pink hedgehog was now kneeling in front of her, head ducked to stare right into her eyes.

"Yes?" she asked, again a bit intimidated when a mortal treated her as anything else than a potential servant, but after she had understood that Shahra not actually intended to make Sonic her romantic interest, Amy was just as friendly as Sonic and Tails, apparently really seeing her as an equal. The pink hedgehog smiled at her.

"Did they have something like girls' nights out in the Arabian Nights, Shahra?" Amy asked. "Because I can imagine when Sonic tried to show you how to enjoy life when you're not treated as somebody's slave, his idea of 'fun' was probably riding a rollercoaster while running in front of the cars, or something, right?" she asked, just a bit of dry humour mixing with genuine sympathy. "He is the guy of my dreams but he hasn't quite figured out how to show a girl a nice time yet, you know?" she said. "So, when this adventure is over, I officially promise you to show you how it's possible to have a great day completely without boys, okay? I bet you don't even _know_ about cookie dough ice cream..."

"N-no," Shahra admitted, seemingly completely overwhelmed by the offer of simple friendship. But when Amy didn't do anything but smile encouragingly and finally pull Shahra gently in the air again as they both rose, the genie finally let see a true smile and grasped the Mobian's hand somewhat more tightly.

"Thank you, Amy," she whispered.

"You just called me for the first time by name," the Mobian girl brightened up. "That's it, now we're girlfriends!"

"Girlfriends..." Shahra repeated the foreign word, seemingly having trouble saying it and looking at Amy, but the pink hedgehog only picked up her hammer again and straightened up to walk forward.

"Alright, Shahra! Let's bash the living daylights out of anyone who wants to hurt Sonic from now on, okay? And no worries, if what you say about this world is true, I can assure you right now that he is _never_ going to die as long as I live!"

"What do you mean?" Shahra asked, blinking and intrigued. About ten yards behind Amy, Tails was just busy finishing off the last of the flame-spewing creatures, and the last blaze of the monster's life for one moment threw Amy sharply into profile as she turned over her shoulder toward Shahra.

"Because," she said, shouldering her hammer at the same time and curling her free hand into a fist, "If one of them 'angels of death' dares to get within one wingspan of my Sonikku, I'm gonna blow those Valkyrie hussies _straight out of the sky_."

xxx

"Okay, I gotta ask you now: Where exactly do you keep getting these rum bottles from? Because we're on a freakin rowing boat with literally _nothing in it_," Sonic pointed out as Shadow for the third time had reached somewhere behind him and pulled out a ceramic flask from an apparently invisible hammerspace.

"Pirate secret." The black hedgehog shrugged. "None of ye landlubbers would understand."

"Oh, spare me the pirate lingo," Sonic retorted, once again heaving as he stemmed his feet against the second bench in an effort to move the oars. Seriously, when Shadow regained his memories, the hero of Mobius would do his damnedest to keep _this _part out of the story.

"Why did this Captain Behemoth steal the ring?" he asked instead, having to raise his voice as for some reason the sea's roaring was becoming louder and louder, a faint thundering in the distance, but that was probably the nearing noise of the lightning.

"The same reason I wanted it," Shadow replied with a shrug. "It has the power to control storms. Out here on the sea that means that you have wind whenever you need it, a calm sea whenever you want it, and when there's people you want to get rid off, you can even use the air pressure to create waves as big as...hey, at what are you suddenly staring?" the hedgehog with the hat interrupted himself when he noticed that his blue companion had for some reason ceased to pay attention to him. Sonic had stopped to row and instead his green eyes were fixed on a point behind Shadow. A point that seemed to be rising...

The Captain turned around to see the hugest towering wave of his entire fictional life crashing toward them, it's shadow already nearly above them. Black ears thought they could pick up the tiniest whimper of a wish for a swift death from his cobalt ship mate.

"Oh," the dread-locked hedgehog said, crimson eyes seemingly not even surprised at this most recent development. Even over the roar of the water now on its path toward them, Sonic could hear the _zing _as the other drew his sword, one hand adjusting his tricorne hat.

"'Ello, beastie," Captain Jack Shadow simply said, and then they were already swept up in the wave, and Sonic's world became wet, painful, and filled with screaming.

xxx

Knuckles' mouth was opened wide, but the echidna was even sure whether he was howling any more. For once, he could already have been so hoarse from all the terror that his vocal chords had died a while ago, and he also didn't know whether his burning lungs even still had the oxygen to produce a sound. And then, of course, there was the fact that riding atop the world's biggest wave meant that you weren't able to even hear yourself scream.

If you could even call it 'riding'.

The red-furred Guardian was currently dancing like a champagne bottle cork in the white chaos that was the crest of this mountain of water. Wide-eyed and near paralyzed with terror he couldn't help but wonder whether this world would possibly stop to mourn him as well if he was to die here...if he didn't drown, then surely he'd die in the crash when this spring tide of destruction would inevitably hit the shore? In fact, could he even already hear the voices of the angels Shahra had mentioned that would carry fallen heroes home? Or was he hallucinating and only imagining to hear high-pitched words because his brain was soaked in so much adrenaline? But they were getting louder, weren't they...?

"IDON'TWANNADIIEEEEE,IHATEWATEROHGODIHATEWATER,WHYDOIHAVETODIE_IN_WATERAAAAAAAAAH-!"

"TO DAVY JONES WE SONS OF BASTARDS!"

Knuckles' facial mask of horror was changed by an ever so subtle frown. That...did _not _sound like angels.

And then the echidna managed the wondrous feat of actually still being even more mind-boggled by the next event, which was a small rowing boat that had been swept up by the wave shooting upwards straight past him when it hit the crest, emptying its contents of one terrified and one apparently insane hedgehog as it overturned in the air and then everything plummeting back toward the foam he was riding in.

And in what was probably one of the bravest actions of his life, the Guardian of Angel Island leapt to his feet even amid the tidal waterquake beneath him, grabbed both screaming Sapients mid-air and pulled them onto his board before they would have fallen back into the water.

"Knuckles?"

"SONIC!"

"A _red_ rat_?_!" added Shadow, who apparently hadn't quite caught up yet...and _then _their surfboard all of a sudden tilted rapidly downwards as the wave had now started to break in the shallows and fall apart, everything about to hit the rocks, and just for once, all three drenched adventurers finally screamed in harmony.

xxx

"Finally! The other side!" Amy called as they emerged from the shipwreck to the muddy shore that overlooked the next part of the large bay, her hammer coated in blue slime while Tails' fur had scorch marks on it, but the two young adventurers' determination still seemed unbroken.

Just until the first fireball hit, that was.

"Aaaah!" Tails shouted, only at the last second able to lift Amy into the air and save her from getting set aflame as the burning projectile burst on the wet ground. Before them stood wooden contraptions like watchtowers and barriers along the shore, manned by fire-breathing henchmen of Erazor and if that wasn't enough, they were now apparently under direct bombardement of the large sailing ship just offshore.

"The pirates," Shahra breathed. "We have finally caught up!"

"Yes, but we need to be able to survive here first!" Amy yelped, still dangling from Tails' hands by one arm, the other clutching her hammer, another fire ball just having narrowly avoided her once again. "There's monsters everywhere and how are we supposed to fend off an entire pirate ship shooting at us when we're trying to find Sonic?" she asked, looking a bit helplessly at Shahra. And then, the genie let see just a little smile.

"I think all we need is a little bit of _legend_..." she said, before immediately pointing up into the air. "Envoy," she asked, "Can you lift her higher up?"

"Higher?" Tails asked, slightly nervously. "Into the storm? How high?"

"Just a little more," Shahra encouraged him, and Tails, thinking of how Sonic also had pushed through his fear of water, nodded and rose. When they were about twenty metres above the ground, the genie signalled him to stop.

"Alright," she said, turning to Amy, "Now, from this vantage point – throw your hammer at them."

"What? But then it's gone! I'll never be able to summon another one today," Amy protested, but Shahra shook her head.

"Not if we imbue it with the magic of a story nearly as old as the Arabian Nights..." she said, and every so softly touched the side of the PikoPiko hammer, Amy abruptly breathing in as she couldn't help but wonder whether her weapon had just softly started _glowing_...

"Please throw it, Amy. Think of where you want it to go."

"Alright, Shahra. Then try and hit _this_, you monsters!" the girl hedgehog screamed...and both Tails' and Amy's eyes widened as the hammer took off like a weapon possessed.

"What...?" Amy breathed, clinging to a hovering Tails as she could only stare at the red item hurling along like hellfire, cutting through the air with the destruction of a torpedo as it destroyed enemies, barriers, and then even whirled over the sea akin revenge given form and caused several explosions on board – before it actually started to fly back to them.

"Shahra, what is this, what did you _do_ to my hammer?" she asked, seeing the genie next to her exhausted, but proud.

"I only infused it with a legend...and just for now, Amy, your hammer is the divine Crusher _Mjöllnir_, weapon of Thor, God of Thunder."

"Aren't...those Norse gods...?" Tails panted, holding the older hedgehog girl up with difficulty.

"Yes, but stories travel," Shahra smiled. "Many stories are known in variations around the world, simply because they are so good, people repeat them to each other. After all, I cannot remember pirates in the Arabian Nights, either..."

"Here it comes!" Amy called, tensing in Tails' grasp and then letting out a cheer of triumph as her hand actually managed to grab the hammer midflight. "Awesome!" she cheered before adding, "I think you can let me down now, Tails, everything below there is gone and the pirates aren't even shooting any more."

"Yeah...are they...dead?" Tails wondered as they finally descended, looking back at Shahra. For some reason, though, the genie had just begun to look a tad bit worried again, though.

"Uhm...actually, no. I just remembered something."

"Oh yeah? What's this?" Amy asked, still staring in fascination at her own hammer. The genie bit her lip.

"Well...I think after we destroyed their cannon, they might have simply chosen to attack with something else."

"And with what?" Tails asked worriedly. "I mean, what else besides cannon can they have?"

"If those are the pirates we are looking for they have the ring with the power to control storms and waves..." Shahra said, and just as she had spoken the words, the horizon suddenly seemed a lot higher than before...

"It's a tidal wave! We need to get away!" Tails immediately screamed, even if he knew he wouldn't be able to fly high enough in his current condition. Amy suddenly grabbed his arm.

"It's not just a wave. It's Sonic," she said disbelievingly as she pointed at a speck in the distance on top of the wave rapidly drawing closer.

"No..." Tails whispered, but then he saw it too.

Right in the middle of the foaming, frothing, whirling white chaos surging toward them, were Sonic and Knuckles, desperately clinging to each other and the board. Atop both of them stood what seemed like Shadow's mad cousin akin a ship's Captain, clutching a sabre and his hat, point of the sword stretched forward. And, because board and wave were pointed straight at the trio on the beach, he was also the only one of all the six adventurers now not completely terrified.

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_Hi there! Wow, has it really been since August that I updated this thing?^^° Time flies...well, hope you like the new chapter! More action to come in the next installment, when it's time for the BOSSFIGHT! Captain Behemoth attacks! (And to you non-players, yes, I swear I didn't make a thing up when describing him. The thing gives new defintion to the term 'Darwin's Nightmare',s'all I can say. :P ) If you read, please review? :D _  
_


	31. Captain Behemoth Appears!

**LordxxAxelxxLover: **Glad you all liked it!^^

**GameSpazzer: **O.o That is...actually kinda true. XD Thanks for the review!

**Martiny the one and only still: **In my special interpretation Uhu is actually the Arabian version of Sonic, just not in hedgehog form. After all, the little light blob is blue. :P Thanks for the review, did your cousin like the story? ;)

**CrazyNutSquirrel: **Third time? Only? It somehow seems like his amnesia happened wayyy more often...XD

**Some Random Tosser: **(bows) Thanks! Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint, then, even if it's very late.^^°

**soniccouplelover: **Of course. I ship Shadow/hand gun after all. XD Hold On is actually Skyblaze's story, tho, so you'll have to bug her. :P Thanks for commenting!

**DEV: **Jaaa, Sonic and Captain Jack Shadow sind zwei die ich seit Ewigkeiten schreiben wollte. XD Shadow und Captain Jack SIND unkombinierbar, aber ich hatte zuviel Spass, gerade wegen dieser schieren Unmöglichkeit. Zum Glück muss ich ihn aber nicht die ganze Story lang so schreiben. ;) Viel Spaß mit dem neuen Kapitel und Danke für's Review! :D

**Ngandu the Croc: **Wow, thanks again for that mega review! I'm glad you liked Shahra and Amy becoming friends, a lot of people seemed to like the scene. In terms of mythology, I like to hint at (or put straight in) as much folklore and fairy tale elements I can get away with, there's just so much awesome material in existence.^^ And yup, only two more levels to go, and then that final confrontation with Erazor Djinn will be _interesting..._thanks again for the comment! :D

**nemiah: **Thanks, always happy to please^^

**Ri2: **Yup. Please refer to fanart to see them. :P Also, Shadow _always_ has a gun. ;) As for why he is calling Sonic a rat...err, good question. I blame his lack of sanity. Tails' fear of lightning is actually canon, from the Sonic OVA. :P Thanks for the review! :)

**Raug'moss: **Thanks! Will do! :)

**Morality0duality:** And they will. :P

**SamuraiSal1**: Oh yes. Amy can be scary.^^° I don't get to drown Sonic often, so I'm taking this chance now. XD Thanks for the review!

**St. Noof: **Back when I was holding out for Shadow in this game I was actually hoping Shadow would be King Solomon and there was a time when I was considering putting him into that role in my adaption. But then I had the idea of Captain Jack Shadow, and...well...XD

**Idalia: **Thanks! Glad you do! Now see the boss fight you never had to suffer through...:P

**Asher Tye: **Oh yes. Totally. And hey, no need for us writers without drawing talent to get our keyboards inna twist, 'cause I got ShotsofSunshine to draw Captain Jack Shadow! XD Link will be featured on my profile.^^ As for how the group will accept him...well, read on to find out. ;) Thanks for the review!

**YumeTakato: **More Sonic and Captain Jack goodness on the way. :P Hope you like!

**kharmachaos: **Yush. Takes a while but I usually get there in the end. ;) Unfortunately, seems like this more like *six* months to update, but...yeah.^^° Hope you like!

**Cstan: **Uh-huh. XD Y'know, a little bird is telling me at least half of Sonic's aquaphobia is just due to sadistic fanfic writers. :P Thanks for commenting!

**Blippa: **O.o *staggers* Woah! Massive review, thanks! That's why I'm still writing^^ Glad you like my stories! Staying true to the characters is my second most important goal, the other one being entertaining people meanwhile. Giving all the characters their spotlight is by far the hardest task, Burning Arrow is the story with the most characters by far, but I still try. ;) Also, there's actually a reason why I have all the different characters show up, so that hopefully stops the story from becoming clogged down with unnecessary baggage. :) I also have a soft spot for science, so I try and keep everything Maria and Gerald talk about with Shadow in Life either realistic (or at least make the technobabble convincing :P) The spoiler in the prologue...yeah, I'm hoping it's not too spoilerish, since neither it's mentioned *which* girl (and I also hope that by the time most people have actually arrived at the end of the story they'll have forgotten about the beginning...XD) Any plans for your Sonic Unleashed adaption yet? Together with Skyblaze we're actually writing a sort of 'sequel' fic to that game. ;) Thanks again for that wonderful comment!

**inujisan: **I'm sure this rum-outta-nowhere is some mystical pirate power. Glad you liked Shahra and Amy bonding, hope you have fun with this chappie, too! :D

**ZehHyperactiveAuthor: **Yes, Captain Jack Shadow is mean. But he's also awesome, which is why we forgive him for it. :P As always, more is on the way, but it might take some time. ;)

**LadySkarlettofSkaro: **Haha, yes, I like to keep my personal headcanon straight. XD I'm not entirely sure when my brain decided that Captain Jack Shadow *had* to appear in this fic, and I have no idea where that particular plot bunny spawned from, but he's proving fantastic fun.^^ Thanks for the review, and yeah, I can have a look at one of your stories. :) Just drop me a PM which one you would like reviewed in particular and what kind of review – as in, just personal opinion about the plot, critique of writing style, ideas where the story could go, or anything like that. :)

**barrel7: **Uh-huh. Apart from 'Eyeleen' (that is, Doom's eye with a female, bitchy and lovesick personality...) in my cinderella adaption I don't think any of my characters even come close in insanity to Captain Jack Shadow. But glad you like and hope you have fun with this chapter, too! :D

**Blue Mage Quartet: **We actually have fanart of this costume now! Please check out my profile! :P As always, the idea of stories and ideas wielding power fascinates me, so I take any chance I get to expand about them in the fic.^^ Amy and Shahra should be quite the cool team in the chapters to come. ;) Thanks for the comment!

**star's dreams: **Shadow? He's got the Ultimate Liver. He can drink anyone under the table. :P As for whether Shadow will ever live his stunt as Captain down...well, they'll have to survive the new chapter first! ;) Thanks for reviewing!

**Thy Noble Dunehazard:** (We...have been reading 18th century literature?) I'm sure that octopus was completely honorable in his intentions. After all, Knuckles doesn't even look like a japanese school girl. :P Ah, Torchwood Jack Harkness? Another cool Captain Jack, and perhaps a better fitting one for Shadow than Captain Jack Sparrow because of the whole immortality thing. Though I can't help but think that JohnnyDepp!Shadow is also a lot more fun...XD

**petite-dreamer: **Yup, seems to be the general opinion. Seems like I made them friends just in time. ;) Not like there was any shortage of bickering in the fic because of that now, tho...^^° Also, we have fanart now! Thanks for the review!^^

**Avitala: **Heheh, poor Sonic. Oh, the things we will do for you for entertainment...:P Thanks for the review!

**Lupus Silvae: **And, uh, even longer now?^^° Oh dear...Black Knight! I'm just playing that game! How's the adapt coming along? :) Norse gods are awesome. It's like there's this collective pantheon of insanity, I love reading about them.^^ Thanks for the review!

**Roxai: **XD Yeah, I guess he would say that. Thanks for commenting, to both of you! :P

**NoaZark: **Oh hey, new reviewer! Welcome! :D Next chapter might not take quite as long as this one^^° Thanks for commenting!

**Plot Hole Digger: **I have several theories what Captain Behemoth is supposed to be, and my top one is 'that what happens when a level designer is hyped up on caffeine and has read one lovecraftian cthulhu novel too much'-.- Glad you liked the character relationships, I'm really trying to give everyone their spotlight despite Sonic hogging so much of it. :P

**The Andromeda Rose: **Uh, time hole? XD Must be the same thing what happened to me updating this fic... But thanks for commenting!

**The Sky Hedgehogian Maestro: **Hm, no, I haven't. I'll have a look at it. :)

**seantriana: **Hi there! Welcome aboard! Well, this *is* extremely slow in updating but I hope you still like – quality fic takes its time. ;) Hope you like the new chapter, too and thanks for commenting!

**valeskathesilverwolf: **Don't stare too long, your eyes might dry out. ;) thanks for commenting! :D

**Michigo Sister: **Thanks, will do!

**ouranhost8: **Silver a cameo appearance? Well, so far he's starred in my fic 'Sonic Drabble Trouble!' only, but we'll see what we can do. Thanks for the comment!

**NumbKnux: **Hm, the hardest fight in the entire game was probably at the very end. Took me three nights to finish that creep. . But glad you liked, hope you enjoy this one, too!^^

**Kiwi555Kiwi: **Oh? Someone hailing from the long white cloud, perchance? :P Thanks for commenting!

**Asta**: Lookit ME, updating...six months late? XD Glad you liked!

**Tucker from Blood Gulch: **Yes, wasn't it? :) The rum...fortunately that one shows no signs of stopping, despite certain techno songs. XD

**Soul Pieces: **Of course it will. All my stories will be completed. :P

* * *

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game, the loading times would be anywhere from two weeks to six months. **

**Chapter 31: Captain Behemoth Appears!**

The world was ending.

This is what a tidal wave feels like. You can see the gargantuan, obliterating wall of water coming toward you, and it slowly consumes everything you can see – until it is upon you, and then you wish you would have already died.

This was how it looked to Tails and Amy. The two younger Mobians were paralyzed with shock at the sight of the mass of dark water rushing toward them, shipwrecks being upheaved and crushed by it like toys.

Tails felt completely frozen, all fight drained out of him, the young kit simply staring at the gigantic tidal wave as if he were a rabbit and not a fox; beside him, Amy and Shahra did the same. Rain was still pouring onto them in a steady rush but it could have been immaterial now – just as their minds were too overwhelmed by the towering oceanic impossibility to even register the water soaking into their pelts, so was the noise of the droplets drowned out by the slow roaring of the watery destruction inexorably advancing towards them. The scale was impossible. There shouldn't _be _that much water in the world.

Amy made the tiniest sound of fear and the two Mobians grasped each other's hands instinctively.

xxx

_This is the end._

_...and even if it isn't the end, I hope it is, because a horrible ending like this would still be better than horror *without* an ending, which is what this entire journey has been so far. _

"Knuckles, I...I am _so sorry..." _

"Can it," the echidna grunted as Sonic interrupted his morbid thoughts, but couldn't bring himself to sound too cutting. Sonic, lying on the plank on top of their tidal wave beside him looked so wet and miserable, the Guardian of Angel Island thought the aquaphobic blue hedgehog had probably been punished enough, and as punishment went...

"TO STRANGER TIDES, YE SCALLYWAGS! CAPTAIN JACK SHADOW BE COMIN' FOR YA!"

As punishment went, the insane hedgehog standing on top of both their backs was probably enough anyway.

"Sonic, how..._where-_?" Knuckles tried to ask, privately wondering whether he would be able to grab both hedgehogs and jump off the wave as soon as they crashed onto the shore but knowing it would be futile, his dreadlocks much too wet.

"When I fell into the ocean, he dragged me out," Sonic panted, ungloved hand digging nails into the piece of wood they were clinging to, the make-shift surfboard toppling and dancing dangerously in the foam atop the wave. "Except now I wonder whether drowning wouldn't have been bettaaAAAAA-!"

It was at that point that the board naturally tipped downwards.

"This is it! Sonic, we will crash into the rocks!" Knuckles yelled, the tidal wave beginning to collapse as its underwater part had hit the shallow waters and the drenched shore came in sight. Sonic had already turned sky-blue with fear and nausea, but what he saw next let his blood freeze in his subcooled body. Staring right at him from the rocky cliffs were Amy and Tails.

xxx

"Sonic!" Tails cried in shock as he beheld his terrified big brother on top of the wave that was threatening to kill them all, relief that his hero was alive mingling with the panic that was paralyzing his body.

Their gazes connected, wide-eyed blue meeting shocked emerald, jade and purple just as out of it as the wave was nearly upon them. Amy blinked.

"And is that..._Shadow with dreadlocks...?" _

And then the wave hit.

xxx

Sonic was falling forwards. The air surrounding him was filled with salty water and spray, debris the wave had carried with it, fish and algae, one utterly traumatized echidna and one black hedgehog out of his mind. Tails and Amy's shocked faces filled his entire vision as he tumbled and it seemed almost in slow-motion to the blue hero...

And then there was a single cry of _"Master!_" and the next moment, water had submerged everything.

xxx

There was roaring. The wave was collapsing on top of him and Sonic knew he would drown now, would perhaps die even earlier, his body smashed to pulp by the force of the water beating him against the rocks. His eyes had been squeezed shut as the salty liquid had washed over him again, as he had lost any remaining contact to their improvised surfboard.

_Tails...Amy, Knuckles...!_

"_Master!"_

_...Shahra? _

There was a mental bump in Sonic's thought process. Shahra...was talking to him in his head again?

Sonic's eyes were still closed. Now he wondered whether he should possibly open them. Tentatively, the blue hero blinked.

"SONIC!"

And was immediately beset by something that looked a lot like two drowned rats, but was rather more probably a fox kit and a hedgehog girl, both half-hugging him and lying half on top of him, but very enthusiastically so.

"You're alive! We were so worried!"

"We were looking for you!"

"Huh? H-hey guys, how are we-?" Sonic began, struggling to at least half-right himself, trying to take stock of their surroundings. They were all on the rocks of the muddy shore, ankle deep water from the wave still running out to sea, indicating that yes, somehow it had to have hit but it hadn't crushed them. The hero of Mobius turned his head, and was relieved to see Knuckles groaning next to him, under an unidentifiable heap of black fur and tattered clothing that was indubitably 'Captain' Shadow, who was appearing unharmed as well. That had to mean...

"Shahra!" Sonic called out, for the first time since that awful moment when the surface of the water had closed over him him a real smile sliding across his face. "You saved us, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, Master..." there was a faint puff of smoke and the genie appeared again, but it was barely the upper third of her body and even that seemed so transparent as if the spirit had trouble holding even that together. "I...managed to break your fall and create a temporary shield for everyone as the wave hit around us..."

"Awesome!" Sonic commented, now having managed to kneel on the slippery wet rocks, the rain still adding to the uncountable little rivers of salt water flowing back into the sea, but the continuing wetness didn't seem to bother the hedgehog at all. "Thanks, Shahra. Without you, we all would have been done for! I take it Tails managed to grab your ring, then?"

"Yeah, it just slipped off your finger. Sorry, Sonic," Tails said, handing both the glove as well as the golden circlet that had slipped off Sonic's hand earlier back to his brother. The blue hedgehog took it with a smile.

"That's okay. Thanks for holding onto it, Tails."

"We went through hell and literally high water to get here, Sonic," Amy told the older hedgehog earnestly. "But it sure seems like a lot of luck that all five of us ended up back here..."

"Not so much as luck but rather narrative logic," Shahra piped up, one finger held up smiling. "Or didn't you know that in every good story all the different plot lines eventually come together on one point again?"

"Right..."

"I want back on my Island...why won't anybody let me back on my Island...?" in the background of the literary review there was a most uncharacteristic whimper from Knuckles still lying tangled up in sea weed and little flopping fish as the echidna groaned. Next to him, the third and newest hedgehog of their party shook his head as he sat up and then attempted to stand, looking at all of them a bit warily. He tipped his hat and a small amount of water poured out.

"Oh. Hello there. And a good day to you, m'lady."

Amy turned her head...and her jaw dropped.

"_Shadow?" _

The dark hedgehog's expression turned just a little bit displeased.

"Even for you, darlin', that's still _Captain _Jack Shadow," he said – which was right before an idea seemed to occur to him and he stepped (no, he _sashayed, _Sonic corrected himself mentally and he couldn't believe he was using that word in the same sentence as Shadow's name) over to Amy, finally bending down a little and putting slender fingers below her chin, the hedgehog girl now staring up at the 'Captain' with a wide-eyed stare that suggested something in her brain had just given up and broken. "Except if you wanted to make a more...personal acquaintance with me, lassie. _Arrr_," Shadow suggested, his expression just as cool as ever as he gave Amy a half-lidded stare, his teeth snapping shut after his husky growl just inches from her lips.

Amy whimpered.

"Right, that's _enough_ of this – Shahra, turn him back this_ INSTANT!_" Sonic yelled, grabbing the Captain by his shoulder and yanking him back from the pink hedgehog girl still on her knees (and now looking just a tad out of it...)

"Uh, Sonic, I am so sorry, but I need another World Ring for that and-"

"WHAT_?_!"

"What is your problem, matey? Do I happen to be...let's say, _sailing in your waters_?" Shadow was cocking a faintly interested eye ridge at Sonic still holding on to his shoulder, and the drenched hero of Mobius seemed ready to explode, even if at the moment he still appeared to have trouble to find the right words.

"Uh, Amy, your nose is bleeding..." Tails tried to point out meanwhile, the little fox seeming more than a little freaked out by the proceedings.

"Hmwa...I mean, what? Oh, thank you, Tails..." Amy replied, but for some reason, the two-tail had the impression she hadn't even heard him.

"That's not – I mean, Amy isn't my – look, about you and _sailing_, buddy-!" Sonic tried to get a coherent sentence together, the hand that wasn't grabbing onto Shadow gesticulating wildly and pointing at various things, but in the end, the Captain simply shook him off.

"Well, whenever you're ready, mate," he simply said, stepping away. "Though I have to tell you whether or not she's yours isn't actually all that important." He tipped his tricorne again and gave Sonic a rather rakish grin. "Pirate here. Savvy?"

"Amy, your nosebleed is getting worse!" Tails cried, just as the girl seemed to have trouble to even stabilize herself and Sonic appeared ready to either bang his (or, more likely Shadow's) head against something.

"Hmwa..."

"I'll make that pirate faker eat those words – _and_ his hat – and, and-" Sonic growled, flame on his chest seeming to blaze just a little bit brighter. Before the situation could derail further, however, the sky was suddenly split in two by a thunder bolt and then there was a corresponding flash of lightning from a giant skeletal ship that seemed to have appeared in the bay out of nowhere, as if it had traveled with the tidal wave...

Shadow's eyes immediately narrowed in on it.

"There they are! Captain Behemoth!" he growled. "He's here – with my _ship_!"

"The one who stole your ring with the power to control storms?" Sonic turned his head, momentary feud forgotten. Shadow nodded, grimly.

"Yes. That's the one. But not for much longer."

A fireball shot from the ship and impacted next to them, leading to a chorus of gasps and screams. Sonic's eyes narrowed.

"Shoot first and ask questions later, huh? That's pirates for ya."

"Please, can't we just hurry before we get hit?" Amy asked, apparently back to her senses and tugging at her hero's arm for a moment. "I didn't fight my way through this hell to get incinerated here..."

"Alright, fine. Let's just do it!" Sonic replied, but Tails was now stepping up to his other side.

"Hurry and do what? Go onboard that ship?" the fox kit asked, pointing. "But how are we supposed to get out there in this storm-?" he began, but then was interrupted by another flash of circular lightning, and this one high in the air, just a tad closer to the shore. And there seemed to be a dark, amorphous shape inside it, _writhing_ -

"What-?" Amy's seemed to be coming back to her senses. "What is that? It looks like when Shadow's using Chaos Control-" she breathed, just in time for the flash to appear again, still high in the air above the water, but once again closer to the shore. Sonic nodded, expression set. It was true, it did indeed look like the black hedgehog's preferred method of fighting, teleporting wildly across a field of battle, only materializing for fractions of a second to deliver a kick or a punch – something that Sonic had very vivid memories of during their first few encounters – but this..._thing _that seemed to be teleporting across the water toward them now did not look like a hedgehog...

"Ah-ha, somebody's looking for a duel," Sonic grinned, squinting and trying to recognize something in the rain.

"_Sonic..." _Shahra's voice in his head already sounded worried again.

_Nah, Shahra, this should be interesting. Come on, let's have some fun! _

"Be prepared for a tough fight," Shadow growled. "He will try and use the power of the ring against us."

"You seem awfully sure that we're gonna help you against him," Sonic shot back, cocking an eye ridge and smirking at the dark hedgehog. Shadow gave him another stare that hovered between the condescending and the taken aback.

"What? You mean that you, an honest and good-willed lad wouldn't repay the saviour of your life?"

Sonic crossed his arms. "Would _you_?"

"Well, no. But I'm a pirate. Here he comes!" Shadow called out as the latest teleport had only flashed fifty yards from them. Tails and Amy immediately straightened, too, all four Sapients now ready for battle. Behind them, though, Knuckles finally picked himself up and turned around.

"Right. I'm outta here."

"What_?_!" Sonic turned around, staring disbelievingly at the echidna. "You're gonna let us down _now_, dude?"

Knuckles gave him an irritated stare. "You've got Shadow now to pull your fat out of the fire. You don't need me for this and I've had it up to _here_. I nearly drowned uncountable times today and died of even more heart attacks. This part of the Arabian nights was the _worst_, and quite frankly, I'd like to just relax until you've dealt with this thing. See you," the echidna waved him off and started to stride toward a little palm tree grove a little way off, leaving a blinking Sonic behind.

"Right...well, okay. I think between me and Shadow we actually _can_ handle this – whatever it is," Sonic said. To Amy and Tails he added, "You just watch out for yourselves and let us do the heavy hitting, okay?"

"Wha – but _Sonic_!" the fox kid protested. This so wasn't fair! He had handled himself brilliantly while Sonic had been gone! In fact, even _better_ than Sonic because _he_ at least hadn't drowned! And now, just because that stupid Shadow in a halloween costume had to prance in here-!

Next to him, Amy seemed to feel similarly, but then all that didn't matter anymore anyway, because at that very moment Captain Behemoth appeared.

"Oh...oh dear," Amy managed, and that pretty much summed it up.

Captain Behemoth was everything you secretly expected to be lurking in the depths of the sea but had never wanted to know about. His entire body consisted of a giant, skull-like, alien face with bulging, pearly eyes without pupils. Underneath his lipless, bared teeth short stubbly tentacles protruded akin a beard, lifting the monster above the ground as if they were feet. The top of his head was constructed like a cancerous dome, large flaps of...skin? scales? jutting out above his eyes and standing up like the brim of a Captain's hat, indeed letting the sea-creature appear as if wearing a tricorne. Three long horns had pierced the skin on top of the skull and stood out in a circle, a smaller one adorning its forehead. Finally, at both of its sides abnormally long fin-like structures had grown, flat, fleshy flabs that looked boneless and wet, but puckered with suckers and at their tips decorated with purple claws. The thing looked like as if everything that evolution had discarded as an abomination had at some stage collected in the deepest depths of ocean slime and had formed a new body of leftovers that had now crawled onto the dry land. Its colour was of a murky blue, the hue of dead meat and its stench was nearly overwhelming.

He teleported again and was now right in front of them.

Sonic took a step back, grinning.

"Hey, settle down, I need that world ring of yours!"

The captain roared in response and set off at an incredible speed along the shore, not unlike the purple insect monster scorpion Sonic and Knuckles had fought against in the desert, leaving the Sapients standing in the pouring rain. "Yeah, you better run!" Sonic called after him, right before waving to Shadow. "Come on! Let's chase that megalomaniac oyster and crack it wide open!"

"Oh," Shahra moaned, "Now I don't know _who_ the pirate is!"

"Easy to tell, Shahra," Sonic shot back, already in a light jog. "It's the ones with the hats and the Captain complex."

"I do _not_ have a-!"

"Less talking, more running, Shads," Sonic poked his tongue out, already breaking into a light jog and seeing the glint of rivalry flare up in his dark-furred doppelganger's eyes with some satisfaction. No matter what kind of story had to have taken possession of Shadow's brain at the moment, a bit of the Ultimate Lifeform still seemed to be in there...

The scenery was flying by now, the retreating bulk of the Captain coming closer and closer the more the two supersonic hedgehogs poured on the speed. Red sneakers squelched in the drenched mud, the ocean still roaring to their left as the course of the giant squid led them right along the edge of the beach – they were on a rather small island, so Sonic estimated that it shouldn't even take a minute to make a full lap around it at the speed they were going at.

Yeah...the speed they were going at...

Shadow was lagging a bit behind Sonic, only visible from the corner of his eyes now, and the blue speedster was a bit confused. They weren't even going _that_ fast.

"Yo, Captain! Guarantee on your skates run out or-?" Sonic turned his head to look over his shoulder at his dark-furred doppelganger – and almost choked.

Mostly because Shadow was not skating, but _running_, in ordinary leather boots. That alone looked weird enough, but-

"Something about my running style lookin' funny to you, bub?"

Sonic was unable to reply. But then again, watching the Ultimate Lifeform, speed-sashaying across the beach with both arms angled at his sides, palms facing forward and chest pushed outwards with hips and tail swaying, was enough to shut up anyone. Shadow was running like Captain Jack in the movie – _exactly_ like Captain Jack in the movie. Sonic was pretty sure that if he hadn't been fighting against an insane pirate abomination just now, he would have collapsed because of the costumed hedgehog in all his sexy running glory reminiscent of a fashion model chased by angry overweight people right on the spot.

"Sonic, _watch out_!"

Shahra's voice cut through his thoughts, the genie girl momentarily materializing to point toward Behemoth up ahead, the monster facing them while racing backwards so they had to keep running to keep up, one of his tentacle/arm-like side flaps now extended to one side.

"He's preparing an attack!" she called, but by then it was already too late.

"Shadow! Dodge!" Sonic yelled as the sea creature seemed to generate water from nothing, a wave more than three metres high suddenly springing up in front of him and rushing toward them. Sonic managed to leap to the right just in time, but 'Captain' Jack Shadow's reflexes didn't seem _quite_ up to par with his usual form...

"_Shadow!" _Sonic cried out as the black hedgehog was hit by the wave with full force, the water threatening to wash him out to the sea. The hero of Mobius swallowed, having once more to disregard his fear for his most hated element as he dashed after him, managing to grasp one dark-furred soggy arm underneath a soaked shirt sleeve and use his other hand to hold on to the rocks while the artificial wave thundered into the ocean past them. Panting for breath, Sonic tried to turn his head as he steadied himself on the wet stone.

"What the hell was _that_, Shadow, why didn't you-?"

But the black hedgehog didn't even seem to hear him. Instead, Sonic had to watch with rising disbelief how the Ultimate Lifeform, completely unimpressed, instead chose to upright himself into a heroic pose on the rocks and gave a flourishing wave toward the thing that had right now nearly succeeded in drowning them.

"Ahoy there, beastie! You will always remember this as the day that you _almost _caught Captain Jack Shad-!_"_

Which was of course when the monster roared again and the next wave hit, this time washing both hedgehogs into the sea for good.

xxx

"This isn't going that great, is it?" Tails asked, and the still pouring rain almost let it seem as if there was for some reason a very large sweat drop on one side of his head.

"No..." Amy shook her head slowly, both younger Mobians watching a fumbling Shahra just managing to drag two wildly thrashing spike balls out of the ocean, depositing them onto the shore again where the merry chase after the Captain began anew, with the difference that now Sonic didn't seem able to decide whether he should be more ticked off at the monster or at Shadow.

xxx

"Listen, buddy, _I_ do the insane stunts around here! _I_ do the silly quips! If _you_ think you can steal _my_ gig-!"

"Sorry. Pirate."

"_If you don't stop with this goddamn pirate shtick right now-!"_

Sonic had to admit after _two_ near-drowning experiences, his nerves were a bit frayed.

"The source of his power is in his horns, legendary hedgehog! There must be something we can do!" Shahra called out at that point, letting Sonic shake his head and try to concentrate on the task at hand again. He and Shadow had taken up pursuit once more, Captain Behemoth still racing away from them and occasionally fire balls shot from the ship exploding in their path, but the two hedgehogs were gaining.

"His horns, eh?" Sonic asked, a worrying grin already forming on his muzzle again. "Okay, Captain, ready to leap up there and see to it that this guy won't get stuck in any door frames no more?"

"Aye," Shadow nodded, "But beware, because once we're up there, he might attempt to throw us off with a blast of thunder."

"Say _what_?"

xxx

Knuckles the echidna tried to relax his tired and bruised body finally against the trunk of a palm tree. The leaves overhead gave scarce protection from the rain, but for now, the Guardian of the Master Emerald was content if he at least didn't have to _move_ anymore. He tried to get a bit more comfortable on the soaked grass underneath, since he couldn't really become any wetter anyway. This day had been a nightmare, but now it was finally over. For once, Knuckles was actually glad that they had collected yet _another_ of Sonic's innumerable woodland friends, because it meant that he wasn't the only sane guy amid a bunch of kids, damsels in distress and blue-furred lunatics anymore. Yes, he could finally just lean back, relax and...

"OH GODS WHY WON'T THIS HORN COME LOOSE HURRY UP-!"

"I AM YOU IDIOT YOU NEED TO PUSH NOT PULL-!"

"HE'S CHARGED UP HIS THUNDER WATCHAAAAAAA!"

Which was the exact point when a monstrosity made of squid roared past, two screaming hedgehogs clinging to the horns of his head and pulling at them while shouting at each other, and then, of course, everything exploded.

xxx

"Guh!" Sonic's breath was driven out of his lungs as he impacted into the muddy ground, turf not his favourite flavour, but something he had gradually grown used to over the years.

_Dammit...this is *so* not going great..._

Peach-furred arms managed to lift his upper body from the floor, his face and chest covered in wet dirt and Sonic could already feel his muscles trembling from the wet and the cold not to mention the electric shock, his low blood sugar and the constant adrenaline this day had forced into this system beginning to wear even him down.

_And by now I'd prefer it if Shadow was angsting all over me like usual, because normal Shadow is at least more useful in a fight than some sort of hat-wearing make-up model whose only special ability is to produce rum bottles from hammerspace. _

The hero of Mobius blinked the pouring rain out of his eyes to see not far from where he had fallen a twitching Knuckles with a lap full of Ultimate Captain. Shadow appeared to be tipping his hat to the echidna. Sonic groaned. There was no help coming from that way, was there...?

"Outta the way, you overgrown fishcake!_ Don't you DARE hurt our Sonic!" _

At his name and at the light voice cracking through the rushing rain, Sonic's head whipped round. And then the hero of Mobius just stared. While he was lying in the mud, the battle hadn't stopped. Someone else had stepped in.

In front of widened emerald eyes, Amy and Tails were now soaring through the storm. They were coming right after the still retreating monster, the fox kit's namesakes whirring with all their might against the water logging his fur. Both their clothes and pelts were sticking to their small bodies and making them appear even frailer, but their eyes were gleaming with determination far beyond their years; Tails' muscles were straining to hold Amy up who kept her trademark hammer in a steel grip by her side, both their gazes focused solely on their enemy. As the pair flew over Sonic's head, the older hedgehog couldn't help but finally grin, despite them going against his wishes – there was a feeling like warm pride welling up in his chest now, and he could only watch them fly.

"Alright, Tails, just one more wave to dodge, then we're onto him!"

"Gotcha, Amy!" the two-tail called back, swerving around another barrage of projectiles easily, Amy a load far lighter to carry than his male best friend, and now they would show Sonic just what they could do!

"Ready – set – GO!" Tails called and at the same time finally released the hedgehog girl's hand. Amy dropped downwards, not going into a spin like Sonic would have, but still managing to land atop the racing Behemoth more or less steadily. By now, even Knuckles and Shadow were watching the youngest members of their team, and the echidna didn't miss the gleam in Sonic's eyes as Tails and Amy, unaware of their audience, exchanged a quick thumbs-up just like they had seen their hero do so many times.

"Heh, Sonic..." Knuckles said quietly.

"Alright!" Amy called out, spreading pink-furred legs to get a more stable stand atop the monster. There was thunder already beginning to build atop her, throwing her face into light and shadow alternatively as Behemoth began to charge up his attack to throw her off, but the female hedgehog managed to keep her cool, even if her heart was racing inside. This was her chance to show Sonic...!

"Let's see if you're so tough when you're missing _bits_!" she screamed and her body twisted as she prepared a two-handed blow with her hammer, growing muscles outlined underneath the wet fur of slender arms and shoulders. It was a young athlete's built by now, the shape of a girl who had never stopped pursuing the fastest thing alive and had run for so long, crossed zones so dangerous and been the target of so many attacks.

Amy shifted her hands on her hammer one last time and struck. Behemoth howled.

"You have trained them well, hedgehog," the echidna finished and Sonic nodded quietly.

"Not sure how much of that is my doing, but yeah. They're doing great." The older hedgehog smiled.

The horn broke out of the skull with a sick-making wrenching sound and rocketed with a high arc into the sea. The monster shook himself wildly, finally dislodging Amy who lost her footing with a yelp but was securely caught by Tails.

"Tails, we did it! We managed to get rid of the first horn!" the girl called up excitedly and was met with an answering grin from the fox kit, both of them feeling the rush of accomplishment and pride the two youngest of the adventurers shared.

"We _rock_! Let's see whether we can't dislodge the second-!" Tails was about to shout back, but then another projectile hit and engulfed them in flames, and nobody ever heard the end of that sentence.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Taranea-fanfic death count:

Chris: 4

Tails: 3

That kit had it coming.

Naah, but *is* he going to die_? _I hope the update that solves that mystery won't be that long in coming now that I'm back in the swing of things. ;)

Meanwhile, please review and tell me what you liked about the chapter? :D _  
_

IN MORE IMPORTANT RAMBLINGS WE HAVE FANART! ShotsofSunshine drew an awesome! picture of Shadow in costume, definitely head to my profile and check out the link, plz!

Other news? I suppose if you're still looking for more Sonic-related fairy tale nonsense adventures, I can recommend my new two-shot 'Bring Me The Head Of Prince Charming'. Finally, Summer of Sonic was great and thanks to everyone who said hello during the day! :D


	32. Clash of the Captains

Review Replies! (Only the anonymous ones this time – otherwise this section would be too long! XD) Normal format will resume next chapter...

**inujisan:** Nah, Knuckles is confident enough that Sonic can handle this thing on his own. The fireball would've been from the pirate ship that's still shooting at them while they're racing the Captain. ;)

**DEV:** Jaaa, ich glaube, ich könnte kein einziges Sonic level mit Shadow beenden, wenn der vor meiner Schnauze so rennen würde! XD Knuckles hätte eine Pause verdient, aber irgendwie scheint das nicht zu klappen..^^° An der Anfangsszene hab ich lange gefeilt, freut mich, dass sie gut ankommt. :) Vielen Dank für das Review! :D

**coolshadowblader: **Heh, glad I brightened up your (sleepless) night ;p

**Kiwi555Kiwi: **Newzealand fan, are we? :P But yeah, that fight *was* a tad annoying. And I had to replay it several times for this chapter, too! XD Thanks for the review! :)

**SU: **Such is the price of university life :/ I'll do my best and finish all of the stories, tho, thanks for commenting! :)

**The Sonadowian: **Hahahah, yeah, that *would* be Lazar. I like cross-references. ;)

**cranky kong: **although I usually kill off Tails. :P Main reason that people react differently to Peach and Elise is probably a) Peach is the same species as Mario and not twice as tall . and b) Peach doesn't kiss the corpse of Mario very often^^°

**Loyal Fan: **Will do, will do. Just takes some time. :P

**Estrella85: **Thanks! :D I take pride in trying to keep the characters as close to the original as possible.^^ Hope you like the new chapter as well!

* * *

**Disclaimer: If I Owned this Game, Disney would have sued SEGA for Captain Jack Shadow into oblivion. **

**Chapter 32: Blitz Krieg of the Kraken**

"TAILS! AMY!" Sonic's expression had changed from pride to terror in only fractions of a second as he watched two of the most important people in the world of him being engulfed by flames. They had only tried to help him win the fight against an abomination of the sea, a monster called Captain Behemoth that currently possessed the World Ring with the power to conjure up storms, and now they had been shot down...

Disregarding all the pains and aches lancing through his body, the blue hedgehog was on his feet and away in an instant, barely managing to catch and collapse under his friends as they hit the ground.

"Tails! Amy! Are you okay?" the hero of Mobius gasped, trying to make eye-contact with either of them, kneeling on the soggy ground as the rain pelted all of their faces. Sonic's heart nearly made a leap when both younger Mobians groaned and tried to blearily blink back at him.

"Son...ic...?" Amy asked, and then her face seemed to stretch into a smile. "Sonic, we did it, we hit him for you...!"

"Are you guys okay? Are you hurt_?_!" Sonic shot back, still more worried than relieved, but by then, Tails made a weak attempt of laying his hand on Sonic's arm.

"Heh...it's alright, we were...way too soaked to get burned, so we're okay..."

"Oh, thank _Chaos,_" Sonic muttered – right before dragging both of them into a fierce hug, still disregarding the battle still in progress. He only looked up when a shadow fell over them.

"They're okay?"

Sonic blinked against the drizzle. Knuckles was standing next to them now, the echidna's chest moving a little as it must have taken him a couple of extra seconds to sprint after Sonic. So far the Guardian of Angel Island had wanted absolutely _zilch_ to do with Sonic's 'insane circus of an adventure' and had retreated to a safe spot to watch the others battle it out against the sea creature by themselves, but now he almost appeared...concerned? The hedgehog nodded.

"Yeah, they're okay."

"Good." With that, the echidna turned and strode now toward the direction the monster had left without another word. Sonic called after him.

"Hey! Where are you going_?_!"

"After the Captain."

Sonic, still holding on to Tails and Amy who were now also watching the Guardian with wide eyes, cocked his head with interest.

"Huh? You joining the fight now?"

Knuckles shot a look over his shoulder. "He hurt the _kids,_" was all he said, but the way his eyes were glinting as he said it, Sonic had the sudden feeling that all the world rings probably could not have saved Captain Behemoth now.

xxx

Captain Behemoth didn't know that, and, in fact, didn't think at all. Shahra could have told the group that the giant squid-like _thing_ was an abomination created by Erazor Djinn, a patchwork monster cobbled together by fragments of horror stolen from stories half-destroyed, an idea forgotten and unfinished that was only intent on searching for _power. _Power such as the magic ring it had stolen from Shadow...

Captain Behemoth was everything sentient beings had ever feared or seen in their nightmares about monsters from the Deep, was everything people long since had imagined lurked behind the horizon and waited for ships that ventured too far. But because he or perhaps _it_ had only been created by unconscious, irrational fright, it couldn't speak, or even _think_, and simply attempted to drown people, the way fear always did – right until it met with Knuckles and then at least it could feel _pain_.

xxx

The rain ran down the Guardian of Angel Island's dreadlocks, but it could have been immaterial to the blood-coloured echidna now. He was on a mission and he would carry it out, before anyone else came to harm.

_Not that some harm might not do some good to at least knock a bit of sense back into those hedgehog jokers..._

Knuckles straightened up. No time for that now. Captain Behemoth was still racing around the coastline of the small island. Knuckles knew what he had to do.

He couldn't run as fast as Sonic. He couldn't glide as fast as Tails. Catching up with the thing was therefore impossible.

But then again, he didn't have to.

There was a faint roar in the distance as Captain Behemoth was about to come around again. The red-furred Guardian cracked his knuckles and then firmly planted himself straight in the path of the monster. Violet eyes gleamed.

Knuckles the Echidna confronted problems _head-on_.

xxx

"Dammit, Shads, you've lost your memory uncountable times now but you've never been such a _wuss_!" Sonic groaned as he was trying to help the black hedgehog keep his balance, the Ultimate Lifeform appearing to walk around a bit unsteadily.

"That's _Captain_ Wuss to you – ouuh..." Shadow gave a bit of a stagger while adjusting his hat that had miraculously stayed on top of his head. Sonic by now wanted to _bite _into the damn thing – because a story had overtaken his mind, Shadow was currently thinking of himself as 'Captain Jack Shadow' and acting a _lot_ like a certain movie character – and, sadly, was about as helpful in bossfights. But then there was a scream from the direction of Behemoth and Knuckles and all four Sapients immediately turned their heads and their eyes grew wide.

The Guardian of the Emerald had charged. It was him that had screamed when his fist collided with the Captain's skull, but it was the monster that was in pain. The echidna's knuclaws had dug deep into the flesh and bone of the abomination and the impact of the racing kraken appeared to fling Knuckles up like a ragdoll, but in reality the red-furred Mobian had only used the momentum to flip himself atop the Captain with the grace of an acrobat, his graceful movements akin Sonic's despite his broader frame.

Behemoth roared again, trying to build up his thunder between the horns on its head and shake Knuckles off, but the echidna wasn't having any of it. A fist with two spikes sharp as dagger points was drawn back. Sonic had never been at the receiving end of one of Knuckles' punches at full power (and probably wouldn't have survived if he had been) but the way the muscles in the echidna's upper arm _bulged_ let even him tense up and wince.

"Ohh, that's _bound_ to hurt..."

The horn was torn out of the Captain's head the second the guardian's fist connected. There even was a lightning strike in the sky as it snapped in two, the bone seeming to crack as loud as the thunder that accompanied it, but only _almost_ as loud as the Captain's scream.

When Behemoth finally managed to dislodge the master of Angel Island with a full-body spasmodic seizure after his second horn was gone, Knuckles only flipped in the air to steady himself to finally glide back and drop down in front of four drenched Sapients and one genie who, to be frank, now all looked a little awed.

The echidna crossed his arms over his chest, himself panting.

"There. That's the second horn gone."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Knuckles," he said, and it sounded sincere. With a look at Shadow he added; "Okay. Come on. It's our turn again."

"...excuse me, matey?" Shadow gave him a slightly incredulous glance. "I commend your youthful enthusiasm, but, you see, I firmly believe in _surviving_, so-"

"You're talking to an _expert _in survival here," Sonic gave the Captain a wink. "Tails and Amy started this and Knuckles helped out too. It's up to us to finish it."

"Ah. You see, when you say 'us', you actually mean 'me'-" Shadow started up again, but Sonic grabbed his wrist.

"No. We can do this." A worrying grin crossed his muzzle. "The _hedgehog_ way."

xxx

Knuckles had to admit, watching both hedgehogs finally put their A-game face on had a certain charm to it. After Sonic had told Shadow what he was planning to do, the Captain had reluctantly agreed, and now the two fastest things alive were once again tearing across mud-soaked, ravaged shores behind Behemoth. The first wave the Captain had summoned to flush them away came and unlike Knuckles who would have weathered it, and unlike Tails who would not have been bothered at all, Sonic and Shadow simply _jumped_ – and then both curled up in what had always, always been a promise of doom for their enemies. This time, they actually reached out to one another, grabbing the other's wrist and beginning to spin around in a way similar to their twister cyclone attack when they had confronted the brotherhood, Shadow's muscles obviously remembering that adventure even if his mind did not. Two blurs of black and blue lethal buzzsaws seemed to become one as they finally reached terminal velocity and released their momentum to shoot straight at the last horn. Behemoth exploded in a ball of light the moment it broke, two pairs of soaked sneakers and sodden leather boots touching the ground as both the hero of Mobius and the Captain of the Black Earl finally fell down to earth again.

The moment was only _slightly _ruined when Shahra decided to use that time to vomit some more smoke after her master had once again decided that spinning around your own axis at 360 mph was the best thing ever.

"Sonic! Look!" Now Tails, Amy and Knuckles were running toward them, and the fox kit was pointing at something that had burst forth from the cascade of light Behemoth had turned into. Sonic tried to focus on the object, blinking...

"That's another of the seven rings...the Water Blue Ring," Shahra whispered, stretching her hand out after the circular band, but the ring passed right through her fingers, letting her eyes grow wide. "I can't even touch the ring!"

"Yeah, looks like we're the only ones that can touch them," Knuckles supplied, prodding the ring still floating downwards in mid-air. "I bet it's because we're not from this world..."

"Does that mean these rings aren't from this world, either?" Amy asked, tilting her head, also mesmerized by the glow of the water blue circlet as Sonic finally stepped forward and closed his fingers around it. Immediately, sparks sprang forth from it and in the distant waters a wave roared up, just to fall down again.

"Sonic..." Shahra began, awed.

"This has to be the ring Sindbad was telling us about before!" Tails exclaimed, excitedly, before hurriedly adding. "I mean, _you_ were telling us about before. Sorry," he added a bit sheepishly to Knuckles, the echidna looking just a bit twitchy whenever his previous stunt as the _Sailor of the Seven Seas, the Adventurer of Adventurers!_ was mentioned.

'Captain' Shadow for some reason had just taken a step back, though.

"Wait...you mean, you are Sindbad? _The_ Sindbad?" he asked, suddenly sounding a bit wary. Knuckles turned an annoyed glance at him.

"I suppose I am. Why?"

Shadow blinked and there seemed to be some gears turning inside his head. He seemed to casually twist one of his dreadlocks.

"Ah. Right. So, uh, you apparently don't remember _who _exactly stole that Ring from you in the first place."

"What?" Knuckles asked, before memory returned. 'Sindbad' had told the troupe that pirates had stolen the World Ring after all. "No, I don't. Why?"

"Oh, no reason! Especially nothing that could lead to you trying to rip the head off any charming Captains you happened to see again. Which reminds me that I should take my leave now," Shadow said, giving them all a flourishing bow and a draw of his hat, before glancing up again with a rakish grin that probably should have been illegal in several countries.

"_Au revoir_, gentlemen. M'lady. And in the future, you will hopefully remember - _never_," he held up a hand, index finger extended.

"Ever," he turned around, looking each of them in the eye in turn. Red eyes glinted and a golden tooth shone when he spoke his final words.

"...to trust a pirate."

And with that, the Ring had suddenly been whisked from Sonic's fingers before the blue hero could blink, Amy gave a little squeak as suddenly Shadow's lips were on hers for just one lingering second, and then it was only Sonic's furious scream that was heard across the storm when one black-furred Captain took off toward his ship like a hedgehog possessed.

And still ran like a girl.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Hi there everyone! Oh dear, last update has been almost a year ago. This is getting worse...but hey, better than this fic being discontiuned, I guess?^^° Japan's still treating me more or less nicely, although now that summer's coming around, monsoon season is slowly starting. I'll try not to pull a Sonic and drown! ;)

And yup, poor Amy's just had her first kiss stolen. However, as a girl I at least can safely say that there's worse people that could have done that to you than Captain Jack Sparrow. :P

Thanks to everyone still reading, all the continued support and comments - if you read, please review :D


	33. At The End Of The Day

**Disclaimer: If I owned this game, you wouldn't be running on friggin rails – if I had wanted to play 'Spirit Tracks', I'd have bought it. -.- **

**Review Replies!**

**Some Random Tosser:** D'aw, thanks :D I do like powerful characters a LOT, so I try to make any fight-scenes as impressive as possible :) I always think that it makes a character instantly more sympathetic if you get the feeling they're competent. :p

**Skyblaze: **Haha, the bane of fanfic everywhere, right? XD But hey, who can blame her, I say...;p

**You Can Call Me Nora**: Always have, always will ;) This fic will be finished! And yeeeeeeah, as soon as Shads gets his marbles back, he'll probably wish he hadn't...cuz Sonic's not gonna let him off easy, no. As for whether his 'outfit' (and assorted jewellery) will vanish when he turns back - weeeeeeeelll...XDDD As always, thanks for your wonderful review, hope you like this new chapter, too! :D

**seantriana**: You and Amy both, sister. XD Read on to find out what happens... :P

**St. Noof**: Oh, he's gonna chase after him alright, no worries ;) My fanfics sort of exist along a 'floating' time line because they take so long to complete. That is, when new games come out while the fic is in progress, the new games will most likely be worked into the characters' past retroactively. Sort of like The Simpsons, where they're always on top of current events, even though the characters themselves don't actually age. As always, thanks for the comment, updates are at least a *bit* more frequent now! ;)

**DC111**: You know I'm a sucker for any Papa Wolf/Momma Bear scenes. Go on, harm a small and defenceless character while his caretaker is around in my fics, I dare you. :P Thanks for the comment, I hope you enjoy the new update, too!

**LadySkarlettofSkaro**: Heh, I'll see what I can do. But glad you enjoyed the guest performance of Captain Jack Shadow regardless! XD

**jakeroo123**: I do use the other system of review replies for my other fics, I just never figured this one would get a lot of reviews! Now it's mainly for consistency, I doubt I will use that format again...as for who can break the sound barrier in my fanfics that usually would be (in no particular order): Sonic, Shadow, Metal Sonic and Blaze. Who were you thinking of?

**The Andromeda Rose**: Aw, thanks! I hope whatever problem caused the surgery it's now long gone :) And yup, a bit of romance ahead. Though I wouldn't advise Shadow (or anyone...) to take Amy captive, I hear she's got a hammer if you try that sort of thing...;)

**nemiah**: He'd have an aneurysm...and then shoot me. XD But I actually do envision most scenes I come up with like a cheezy action film, so maybe you're onto something. Thanks for the review! ;)

** petite-dreamer**: I'd give you a brohoof back, but ffnet doesn't like the formatting in chapters...D: But glad you liked the chapter anyway :) And yeeeeah, why exactly IS Sonic jealous, anyways...? XD Nah, but he'll get his revenge. One way or the other. Thanks a lot for the review, hope you like the new chapter, too!

**DgShadowChocolate**: Yes, updates. These do happen once in a while here. XD As for whose wrath Shadow will have more trouble to avoid - please read on to find out...;)

**IOnlyWriteBigStories:** Yup, something like that might very well happen. XD Glad you find it funny, I always aim to entertain. Thanks for your comment!

**soniccouplelover:** Yeeeah, just takes a while every time. :p More Captain Jack to come! ;)

**YumeTakato**: Well, it's definitely an update before Christmas, right...? XD

** SonicDude87**: I sure as hell do! Glad you like, and thanks for the review!

**gameloverx**: Hah, it's been a while since I had summer vacation! Updates are slow, but I hope at least the chapters are worth waiting for. Thanks for the comment!

**red-ysetgo**: Heh, keeping characters IC is one of the things most important for me next to the humour. I do base most of their personalities on the fics of JudasFm. :)

**Maiyrhya**: Aw, thanks! Yeeeah, Shadow will probably try to commit suicide. Probably. XD Maybe he'll jump off that pesky fourth wall...? ;)

**Blue Mage Quartet**: D'aw, THANKS! Reviews like that are the reason why writing is so much fun, for me it's absolutely wonderful to discuss characters! Like Sonic and Tails, I also based my Knuckles off JudasFm's fics, where I appreciated for the first time how powerful a character he really is - and I do love writing strong characters so much, both physically and mentally. Especially when you don't see them in action all the time, it's always my favourite moment when they finally roll out because someone just had the bad idea to push their berserk button. Just try to commit any unjust act in front of Knuckles, see where it gets you... ;) And as for Amy just having gotten her first kiss stolen - yeeeah, wonder what she thinks about that! XD read on to find out...:p

**Kayslay**: Oh, will have a look! Thanks!

**inujisan**: It was a highly entertaining mental image. XD Thanks for commenting, as always! :)

** star's dreams:** Oh will she ever. :p Hope you enjoy the new chapter, too!

**Tucker from Blood Gulch**: No worries, I will!

**CerberAsta**: Love that song! (especially the version from Zebrahead...:P) Thanks for the review!

**That-Nerdy-Girl-Who-Writes**: Ah, death threats. My daily correspondence. XD No worries, updates around here only take one or two years...

**Guest**: Yeeeeah, about that...XD

**Satora-Wolf**: A bit more of that to come, no worries! ;) Glad you like and thanks for commenting!

**Zoey Klinkman**: Heh, Uhu. I saw a fanart where someone drew Sonic as Uhu, it looked quite cool :) But yeeeah, I'd been waiting to make that Captain Jack joke for ages, so...;)

**SerenaTheHedgehog:** Well, depending on your definition of 'soon'...XD

**strawberrybunny4341:** hah, comic writing! I'd love that! Glad you like it, hope you enjoy the new update, too!

**Guest**: One girl-running Shadow coming up right about...now!

**Songbird of the End**: Oh, I know, I'm just pretty sure Sonic doesn't...;)

**ANgela**: No worries, your wish shall be fulfilled. Just read on to find out...

**Kogarashi**: Oooh, questions! I love those! Mobians in my headcanon usually have a sort of 'preference' for certain foods that mirrors their feral ancestry, though they're not as restricted (i.e., Mobian dogs can have chocolate. Everything else would be just cruel. Of course, just like humans with intolerance to certain substances, there can always be exceptions). As for the pop culture references, the Mobius this is taking place on is a sort of amalgam of our Earth and the world from the games, a sort of huge super-planet. It has most of the countries, like Germany etc, but also the canon Zones and cities, like Green Hill and Westopolis. But yeah, most of the time it's a fairly consistent application of the Rule Of Funny. ;) Does Sonic really come across as incompetent? I admit, I am usually guilty for writing him as _too_ cool (huge fangirl here...) rather than the opposite, really? He does commit some blunders, but usually saves everyone from the trouble he got them into as well, I thought...? Any specific instances you were thinking of? But glad you still like the story and thanks for the great review! :D

* * *

**Chapter 33: At The End of the Day**

An azure cannonball had just hit 'Captain' Jack Shadow right in the back. The black hedgehog went down like a tonne of bricks with mascara.

"_You backstabbing buccaneer!_"

"OW!" Shadow was currently trying to squirm out from underneath the furious hero on top of him, twisting Sonic's nose in an attempt to get the other off him. "Watch it, you blue-faced bilgerat, or I'll tear you a new bunghole!"

"I swear I'll shove a plank up _yours,_ you Captain Casanova, if you won't instantly drop that ring!" Sonic shouted back, grabbing for the water blue ornament that Shadow was trying to keep out of his reach, and the two brawling hedgehogs were rolling down the beach in a tangle of spines, fists, and sand in terrible places.

"Gimme!"

"Never!"

"I _said_-!"

And then Sonic noticed something, which was that he suddenly felt a distinct lack of contact with his opponent.

And also, lack of contact with the ground.

"Wha...oh."

And then hero of Mobius was finding himself face to face with Knuckles, who was currently holding both hedgehogs up by their neck fur and wearing an expression that _dared_ them to resume their slapfight. The echidna turned to Shadow, and when he spoke, his tone was a dangerous kind of pleasant.

"Now, what was that you were saying about giving up that ring, 'Captain'...?"

The Ultimate Lifeform held his gaze with about as much grace and poise as you could muster if you were currently the equivalent of a furry wet sock hung up to dry.

"Er. Well, if such a handsome gentlema-...I mean, gentleho...well, whatever you're trying to be, me lad-"

"I'm an_ echidna_." It was said with enough chilliness Sonic was surprised the Guardian's dreadlocks had not just turned into icicles.

Shadow swallowed, squirming just ever so slightly in Knuckles' hold, trying to surreptitiously get at least one foot on the ground. "Noted. Mr Sindbad, sir."

Knuckles glared at him. "Ring. Now."

"Spoilsport." Shadow seemed to actually pout, but still held out the water blue ornament without another attempt at flight. Knuckles unceremoniously dropped Sonic from his right hand and used it to take the ring out of the Captain's unresisting fingers, before releasing the black hedgehog as well.

"Whatever," Knuckles grunted. "The _last_ thing I need is to have _two_ jokers in this little party from hell." He turned away from the hedgehogs getting back to their feet and strode over to where Tails and Amy still stood staring, handing the water blue ring to Shahra. He jabbed a thumb at the Captain. "Can you turn him back now, genie?"

"With the ring, yes, certainly, Guardian," the spirit girl replied, taking the ring with a look of reverence. "Shall I do so now...?" she asked, shooting a questioning glance at Sonic, who knew she still somewhere considered him his Master, even if he wished she wouldn't.

The blue hedgehog gave her a long look, seeming to weigh the possibilities in his mind for a moment, right until Amy piped up, only blushing a little bit,

"Er, _actually_, if it's alright with you guys I wouldn't mind if he, uh, stayed as the Captain just for a little while long-"

"Shahra, turn him back. This instant." Sonic very pointedly tried to look as if he wasn't sounding flustered at all.

"Wait, what now?" Shadow asked, definitely confused, but now also wary.

"You aren't who you think you are," Sonic said laconically. "We're gonna change you back to your real self. It's easy. Just let Shahra do her thing."

"Wait, wait, wait." Shadow was taking a few steps backwards now, holding up both his hands in a defensive gesture. "I'm not sure I'm on board with this, matey."

"Well, tough," Knuckles retorted. "But fact is, you'll be a _lot _more use to us in your usual state, and not as a Disney reject. Genie-!"

"Woah, now, now, not that hasty, gentlemen! I mean," Shadow said, briefly giving a flourish, with his hat as he saw he had their attention, "if I indeed am not who I think I am but who you, whoever you are think I should be who's to say that who you think I am is who I would rather be than who I am even if I am not."

There was a collective, blinking silence. Shadow took to it like a university lecturer to a free buffet, at the same time very casually reaching down a hand to properly adjust his slipped boots again,

"For you see, if we could suppose for a moment, that you might not even be who you think you are while thinking that I am not who I am, would it be indeed unthinkable that-"

...and then there was a very definite _thud!_ as a piece of shipwreck plank connected with the backside of Shadow's head and the ultimate Captain sank with a very faint 'Well, it was worth a shot...' to the floor.

"Ouch. And it was such a good run, too," Sonic winced, the hedgehog, as a fellow connoisseur of the art of babbling yourself into an escape opportunity, now feeling a sting of sympathy.

xxx

Shadow woke up. He had a searingly pounding headache, not the foggiest idea where he was or how he had gotten there, and...- he briefly looked down his body where he lay – he was apparently dressed in a drenched pirate outfit.

It were those subtle clues that told you you wouldn't be in for one of your better mornings.

Groaning, the Ultimate Lifeform forced himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked around, and saw that it was nighttime, he had been lying in a landscape of sandy dunes, and that not two metres from his resting place, there were the familiar figures of Knuckles, Amy, Tails, and of course, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Shadow now groaned slightly louder than he had before.

"Oh _no_..."

"Wow, nice to see you, too," Sonic was the first to reply, and was now giving Shadow a dry smile over his shoulder. The others had looked up as well, all of them sitting around a campfire, Sonic with his back to him.

"Excuse me for not being overjoyed to see you, Faker," Shadow grumbled, picking himself up from the ground and walking over towards them, brushing at the sand clinging to his damp fur and wet clothes in annoyance. "It's just that when someone should wake up and find himself -" he looked around for a second, gesturing at the sand dunes around them - "-for some reason on a beach probably located at Bumfuk, Egypt, with..." and then it was a testament to his composure when he only paused a little as he beheld Shahra,"...a _harem girl_ floating just a little bit too high off the ground, then nobody will really go for: ' Oh goody, now that Sonic the Hedgehog's here, things will surely make _sense_ again!'' Shadow sat down as he finished, and seemed to want to add some acerbic remark, but then red eyes widened as soon as he saw Sonic from the front. A black-furred hand pointed at the brightly burning flame that shouldn't have sat where it did.

"How-?" Shadow began.

"A genie did it."

"Yes, but _how_?"

"We're in the middle of the Arabian nights, and a genie did it," Sonic repeated, now crossing his arms over his chest in a gesture that obviously declared the topic closed.

"Hmph." On Shadow's face, the clear distaste for magical explanations was visible that came with being raised by a bunch of scientists, but the black hedgehog seemed at least to grudgingly accept the answer.

"So this is, what?" he asked instead. "An alternate dimension? And how did _I_ get here, dressed like _this_?" Shadow looked at his clothes and back at them. "The only thing I remember is going to the fox kid's house and then it's just a blank..." he stopped himself. And when he glanced at Sonic again, for the first time the blue hedgehog could remember there was actually a hint of uncertainty in those red eyes.

"I'm...not having amnesia again, am I?" Shadow asked, his voice sounding suddenly carefully controlled, but almost as if its owner now had to keep it from trembling.

"...no. Not in the way you think, anyway," Sonic replied, his tone somewhat softer than what he usually used when speaking with his rival. "You should be okay now. You had...somewhat of a bad dream, I'd say?" he said, glancing at the floating girl next to him for approval for that explanation. She nodded, leaning forward a little and catching Shadow's glance with her dark purple eyes.

"Yes," she said, "You might say that. I'm Shahra, by the way, a genie of the ring and bound to the blue hedgehog of prophecy!"

"Why am I not suprised."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Shahra was blinking at Shadow with some confusion, while Knuckles had only snorted at the black hedgehog's deadpan. Shadow waved her off.

"Nevermind. You said you had an explanation for why _I_ am here as well?"

"Well..."

It took a while for Shahra, Knuckles, Tails, Amy and Sonic to relay their past adventures and current objective, and outline the way magic worked in their present surroundings. Some more time was spent reconstructing how Shadow had probably come to be in the book as well, and by the time they were finished, Sonic had already had to leave twice to gather more firewood.

"...okay. So I likely got sucked into that book when I found it at the fox kid's place," Shadow said slowly afterwards. "I think I remember discovering it outside on the balcony as I was looking for him. It was soaked, so I took it in."

"Where I discovered it later in the dining room," Knuckles gave a bit of a sigh as he remembered his own trip to Tails place, also looking for the two-tail, who had been the first to vanish into the storybook world, having borrowed the book from Sonic.

"Thank you for taking the book in from the rain. Even if I'm sorry you got sucked into the story against your will, saving that book from the water was very kind of you," Shahra said at that point, seeming to slightly surprise Shadow, who looked up at her, black eye ridges raising a little.

"That's...fine. I didn't think much about it at the time."

"No, I'm glad to meet such a thoughtful person! Do you like fairy tales, then?" Shahra smiled at him brightly, and by now Sonic and the others were already exchanging glances between each other that didn't seem to know whether they should be amused or intrigued. The black hedgehog appeared to be more than uncomfortable by the open friendliness and admiration the genie had a habit of treating Sonic's friends with, and by now Shadow was actually all but scooting backwards on the sand.

"I, uh...my sister read them to me. When I was younger," the black hedgehog managed. "She liked Fantasy a lot...okay, _what_ is it?" Shadow interrupted himself, giving the assembled Mobians staring at him with wide eyes an irritated glance. "Is there a crab sitting on my head?"

"No..." Amy was the first to reply, shaking her head slightly. "It's just..." she seemed to look for words. "You never, er, talk much. About your time aboard the ARK. Or anything, really, " she added.

Shadow gave her a look.

"It's...a long story. _Very_ long, believe me," the black hedgehog repeated with emphasis when the genie appeared to be getting dangerously enthusiastic. "Would probably take _years_ to tell, don't get your hopes up."

"Aw."

"Yeah, maybe we can exchange life stories later once we're out of the godforsaken medieval dimension the blue faker managed to land us in _this_ time," Shadow said laconically, giving Sonic a pointed stare which the blue hedgehog cheerfully ignored, "You said we need to use that water blue ring to fight against some sort of golem, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's a monster that draws its energy from heat, so to defeat it, we need to weaken it with a rain storm that this ring will be able to summon," Tails explained, the fox kit picking up easily on the fact that the black hedgehog obviously wanted to change the topic. "Once we've done that, Sonic can destroy it and we'll be able to collect the sixth ring from its remains. Then hopefully Robotnik has found out in the palace library where the seventh ring is, so we can go get that and then go on to kick Erazor's sorry butt!" the two-tail said, appendages wagging just a bit too excitedly at that last bit.

Shadow raised an eye ridge.

"Your plan is to defeat Erazor..._after_ showing up with those seven magic rings that he's making you look for in the first place?" he asked. "So when you're at his place, your plan is, what? To just..._not _give the rings to him?"

Sonic shrugged. "Yeah, well, obviously our strategy still has some kinks to work out. But can we count on your help?" the blue hedgehog asked, now looking a bit more serious than he had until now. Shadow gazed at him flatly.

"Do I have a choice?"

The question had been asked in a resigned tone, but before anyone could reply, the edges of the Ultimate Lifeform's in something that could almost have been a wry smile.

"Never mind. I'll come with you," Shadow said, before his lips then split into an actual dark smirk and there was a flame of green Chaos fire burning in his hand when he added:

"After all, someone needs to teach that pathetic djinn that trying to imprison _me_ is not the best strategy for survival..."

And while Tails looked at the flame with wide eyes, Sonic cheered and Knuckles gave a basic grunt of approval, Amy leaned over to Shahra just a little bit more. "Exactly what this story needed," the pink hedgehog hissed to the genie, "More friggin testosterone."

"What was that?" Shadow asked, looking a bit annoyed at the giggling that was now coming from both of the girls. .

"Nothing," Amy replied innocently while Shahra seemed to still have trouble to get her face back under control, "Thanks for helping us out, Shadow."

"It's...fine," the black hedgehog, now definitely flustered, determinedly turned back toward the fire. "So what's there for food, anyway?"

"Ah...yeah. That might be a bit of a problem," Sonic admitted with a wince. "In this storm we can't go fishing, and so far we've only found one barrel of hard tack and only some of that was still edible." _And Knuckles and me left most of that to Amy and Tails,_ was the silent addendum that Shadow didn't need to hear to work out. It was no secret how protective the hero of Mobius was of his younger companions, no matter what it meant for himself.

"If you're hungry, there's always crabs around. And insects," the echidna commented, popping a pillbug into his mouth as if for demonstration. The Ultimate Lifeform for a moment looked as if he was trying very hard not to pull a face like a four-year-old faced for the first time with spinach, but fortunately for his dignity it was Tails who had reacted even faster.

"Ew! Knuckles, that's gross!" The two-tail had screwed up his snout and poked his tongue out in the universal language of all underage picky eaters.

"Nah, they're not too bad, really," Sonic replied, at the same time also digging up a bug and letting it drop into his mouth. "If you've evolved from rodents, at any rate." He grinned at Tails.

"What? Species has nothing to do with it," Amy protested. "Eating bugs is disgusting, period!"

"Yeah, I agree that it doesn't have anything to do with your species," Knuckles replied with a smirk. "You two are just spoilt brats."

In a way, Sonic thought, not capturing the twin expressions of utter indignation from both Tails and Amy on film right now was a crying shame.

"That's not _true_!"

"_Sonic_! Make him take that back!"

"I dunno, guys, maybe it is true. I mean, Tails _does_ like his triple frosted chocolate cake..." the hero poked his tongue out at his younger brother, but before the fox could retort anything, had already turned to Shadow.

"What about you, Captain? You a spoilt brat, too?" he asked innocently, while at the same time knowing that the black hedgehog, who basically had spent all his childhood aboard the space colony ARK and therefore had very little experience with camping in general, had to be a little bit freaked out.

The Ultimate Lifeform sniffed at him. "I don't need food, hedgehog. And after seeing you eat that stuff, I sure don't want it, either."

Sonic shrugged. "Suit yourself, Shads. But hey, at least try one," he said, holding out a squirming, many-legged thing at the black hedgehog. "It's valuable protein. And we don't like it, we _love_ it!"

"If you utter even another word of the Hakuna Matata song, faker, I am going to push you off a _cliff_."

xxx

It was a little while later that the atmosphere had quieted down a bit, the day taking its toll and the tiredness overcoming the earlier hilarity. They sat closer to the fire now that the cold was coming in and starting its fight against the warmth from the flames to seep into their bones. Their talk had mostly turned toward the new day and how to defeat the Ifrit that was waiting.

Amy shifted a bit, trying to rub some circulation back into her upper arms.

"I just hope I can summon another hammer when I'll need it," she said. "I don't know why, but I've been having trouble calling them up, lately."

Shadow, for the first time contributing to the conversation, snorted. "Yeah, I'm not surprised about that. That what you're calling your 'piko-piko hammer' is a manifestation of pure Chaos energy. No wonder you have trouble summoning it here."

"What?" Amy blinked. "You're saying my hammer is...made of Chaos? The same stuff you make those lightning lances with?"

The black hedgehog shrugged. "Basically, yeah." As if for demonstration, he snapped his fingers, a small flame flickering to life on top of his index finger. "My creator taught me that some Sapients, and hedgehogs in particular, have an affinity for Chaos energy. I have learnt to bend Chaos to my will for a variety of things, but you pretty much seem to only use it to manifest it as your weapon of choice. I noticed that when we fought in Frog Forest."

"Ah. Yeah, I remember," Amy said, giving a bit of an embarrassed blush at the black hedgehog's dry tone – mostly because Shadow was probably referring to the time when she had thought he had stolen Froggy, and had hit him with said hammer straight in the face.

"Yes. _That_ time," Shadow said pointedly, but fortunately seemed to harbour no particular further ill-will at this moment. Amy tried to look as non-threatening as possible. The Ultimate Lifeform waved a hand.

"Anyway, what I meant to say was that it's no surprise your technique isn't working as it should in this...pocket dimension. Ambient chaos energy exists here, but not as much as in our world. It's enough to enable me to skate, or use the odd Chaos Spear, but I'll have to limit myself with those. A Chaos Blast is probably not possible," he added, and it sounded a bit resentful.

"So because Amy needs Chaos energy to summon new hammers when she's thrown away old ones, she can't endlessly create them here like she could back home," Tails summed it up, blue eyes blinking. "That's fascinating!"

"_One_ way of putting it," Shadow grumbled, poking the fire with a stick a bit too roughly. "So far I don't even have a clue why I'm in this chaos-deprived world in the first place, especially dressed like _this,_" he said, indicating clothes with an irritated swipe. "_Are_ there even any stories with pirates in the Arabian Nights?" he asked, looking at Shahra and sounding highly sceptical. "Because I sure as hell don't remember anything featuring a 'Captain Jack'."

"Uh...well, not exactly, no..." the genie was fumbling a bit as she tried to manage a reply, looking a bit helpless. "As far as I could tell, you seemed to have brought your own story with you." She blinked at Shadow. "Are you by any chance the kind of person that usually attracts dramatic background stories and fateful decisions?"

"Believe me, you have no idea," Sonic replied before Shadow could, "In most cases, he'll even have brought _ten_ possible stories with him, and the endings of nine of them won't make sense."

And it was at this point that one of the soaked Captain's guns inflicted its first damage because it was flung straight at Sonic's head.

"_Ow!_ Hey!"

"Keep your smart remarks to yourself, faker."

"Whatever. I hope your next game is a spin-off ice skating adventure," the hero of Mobius was grumbling and rubbing his head. Shadow grunted, but at least didn't seem to grace that with another reply. The black hedgehog instead just settled closer to the fire and began to finally undo the laces of his pants and shirt, apparently deciding to rid himself of his outfit now, ignoring both Shahra and Tails now fussing over Sonic and the new bump on his skull, as well as Knuckles, who hadn't bothered with any of their squabbling but was more interested on roasting more insects over the fire.

What _did_ catch Shadow's attention was something else entirely.

Namely, the long, insisted stare one particular member of the group had been giving him all evening. Shadow slipped out of his shirt and turned his gaze.

"Anything the matter, Amy?"

"What! I mean, no! Nothing!"

The words had been a squeak. Shadow raised an eye ridge.

"You do keep staring at me in a...somewhat unusual way," he pointed out while also taking off his belt.

"Arghl," Amy replied coherently.

"What is it? Do I have a spot on my fur? Is there a wound bleeding?" Shadow asked, now gaining a definitely irritated tone, and the hedgehog girl shook her head quickly.

"No, no, everything's fine. I'm, uh, sorry for staring," she said, and Shadow wondered whether she for some reason now looked just a shade pinker than usual, "I just, just thought...youlookedkindagoodinthatpirateoutfit." This was followed by a kind of a strangled noise and Amy briefly looking as if she was considering jumping into the sea.

"What?" Shadow blinked.

"Or out of it. Er. I mean. Oh gods. _I think I need to go to the bathroom now!_"

"Uh..." Shadow looked after the rapidly retreating back of Amy's form after the girl had jumped up and fled into the darkness of the dunes, then turned his head to behold the staring faces of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, the first one of which was glaring and the latter two of which at the moment seemed to be trying hard not to break out into hysterics.

Shadow sighed.

The drawback of being an immortal lifeform was that you could never simply die when you wanted to.

xxx

Shahra found Amy a little while later with her head in her hands. She looked a bit like she would have rather tried to stick it into the sand instead.

"Uh...Amy?" the genie tried, cautiously floating closer.

"Oh gods, Shahra, how could I _say_ that?" The words of the hedgehog sounded more like a little wail. "I mean I just thought Shadow looked..." she bit her lip. "Well, a bit _hot_ to be honest. But I didn't mean to make it sound like that!" she sounded a bit desperate. "Now they're probably laughing, aren't they?" she asked, staring at her shoes resentfully.

"Ah...well..." Shahra looked a bit helpless." The Guardian and Tails are, but Sonic...did not seem to like it."

"What?" Amy raised her head from her hands, suddenly sounding hopeful.

"No, he seemed...frustrated, a bit and-"

"Yes!" the pink girl jumped up, punching the air and smiling widely at Shahra. "That means he cares!"

"It does?" Shahra looked somewhat doubtful, as if the dating rituals of 21st century hedgehogs were, truthfully, a bit beyond her.

"Oh, definitely!" Amy grinned. "Okay, don't worry, I won't make him unhappy again," she said, before standing up and brushing herself off. "_Actually_, I even had something special planned for him instead, with all the big ships here..." the pink hedgehog turned to the genie abruptly. "Will you help me? Please?"

"If I can, certainly, but what do you need?" Shahra asked, now more confused than ever.

Amy gave her a smile that looked just slightly devious. "Well, there is a kind of story that I always wanted to sort of re-enact with Sonic..."

"Oh? A story?" the genie now suddenly looked a lot more enthusiastic.

"Yup," Amy nodded. "That's right, you love stories, don't you? In that case, you need to let me tell you about this one, because where I come from, this is one of the most famous and well-known love stories of all time..."

xxx

It was the following morning, so it was the light of dawn and not of sunset, but for this particular re-enactment, it didn't make much difference. Even Sonic had to admit, Shahra had outdone herself. One of the decrepit ships was now lying straight in the water. The storm had ended. The sea was flat and beautiful.

And he was holding up Amy on the railing of the stern and kept getting her elbow rammed into his side.

"Say it!" she hissed.

"Urgh. Seriously?"

"Yes. And if you don't want Shadow to be your stand-in, you _better,_" Amy said primly and Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright, fine."

"Awesome!" Amy grinned. And spread her arms. She cleared her throat.

"I'm flying, Jack!"

"I'm king of this world. And Stuff."

"More enthusiasm, dammit!"

"Okay, okay! I'm king of this world! Whooo! And stuff."

"This was a serious romantic tragedy! Take it more seriously!" Amy complained, but couldn't help but grin at the blue hedgehog at the same time. They both knew they only had five minutes before Shahra would let the ship revert to its old, broken shape, and they would have to return to the shore to resume their adventure, but it had been the combined, squealing enthusiasm of the two girls that had made this interlude possible after breakfast.

And so, as the hero of Mobius was holding onto Amy Rose at the prow of a slightly anachronistic cruise ship in the middle of the Arabian Nights, the background noise filled with the most accurate version of 'My heart will go on' that Shahra could manage, Sonic couldn't help but think that if this didn't strike terror in the heart of any enemy they should encounter, he didn't know _what_ would.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Hi! Er...anyone still reading? Anyone...at all? XD Yeeeah, not the fastest update I've ever managed. :P Part of the reason is the new (broken record) Supernatural and Good Omens fanfic I'm also putting up at the moment if anyone of you likes one of those fandoms ;) Otherwise, action will resume next chapter and hope to see you all there! If you read, please review!


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